Oklahoma licensing law closes Edmond day care

FROM STAFF REPORTS Comments 4
Published: December 11, 2008

EDMOND — A child care center is shutting down indefinitely today as operators seek licensing through the state Department of Human Services.

Multimedia

Photoview all photos

On Wednesday, officials at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School posted an announcement for parents about the closing of the school’s Child Development Center and Extended Care program.

"We have been working on getting our state license for quite some time,” the announcement read. "Unbeknownst to us as of November 1st a law was passed that all child care facilities had to be licenced or shut down. We are working as fast as we can to get all the paperwork finished. DHS said it will probably be a week or two before everything gets finalized.”

Calls to the school were referred to Bill Coyle, a deacon at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. He could not be reached.

George Johnson, DHS spokesman, said the school contacted DHS on Tuesday and agreed to a voluntary shutdown.

"It has always been a requirement in the state of Oklahoma to have a child care license,” Johnson said, "but sometimes if they are attached to a school or a church, they (operators) think that they are exempt. That is not true.”

The school’s child care center may be the first to suspend operations under a law that became effective Nov. 1. The law enables the state to shut down unlicensed centers and fine them $100 to $500 a day if they refuse to close, Johnson said. In late October, DHS estimated the number of unlicensed Oklahoma centers at about 200.

The school must meet certain requirements to obtain a temporary permit and ultimately a license, Johnson said. Requirements include submitting employees to criminal background checks, sending job applications to DHS for screening, hiring a certified director and undergoing inspections by DHS employees.