Iowa

Staff-child ratios

Requirements

Annual training

First year: 10 contact hours from approved subject areas plus pre-service health/safety training, CPR, first aid, and mandatory reporter training. After the first year: staff need 6 contact hours of professional development annually; center directors and on-site supervisors need 8 (441-109.7).

Lead teacher

Iowa does not require a credential for classroom caregivers: staff counted in ratio must be at least 16 (with restrictions under 18), complete pre-service health and safety training, and obtain CPR, first aid, and mandatory reporter certification within 3 months (441-109.7-109.8).

Director

Directors must be at least 21 with a high school diploma/GED, a business/administration course (or 12 contact hours of administrative training or 1 year of administrative experience), pediatric CPR/first aid and mandatory reporter certification, and 100 points from a combined education/experience/training chart (441-109.6(1)).

Worth knowing

Full table (441-109.8(2)): 4-year-olds 1:12; 10 years and over 1:20. Iowa sets no numeric maximum group sizes; group size/capacity is set on the license with the state fire marshal (441-109.8(3)). Combined groups of 3-5 year olds may run at 1:12; if a child under 2 is in a combined group the 1:4 (or 1:7 for 18mo-3yr combinations) rules apply.