South Dakota

Staff-child ratios

Requirements

Annual training

Each director and each provider counted in staff-child ratios must complete 10 hours of annual training in the federally required health and safety topic areas (ARSD 67:42:17); pediatric CPR renewal may not be counted toward the annual hours. Orientation covering 13 health/safety topics (including pediatric first aid and CPR) is required before unsupervised care.

Lead teacher

Providers (caregivers) must be at least 18 years of age and demonstrate and maintain the ability to provide care that attends to children's physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs; assistants may be 14+ but only under direct supervision.

Director

The program administrator/director must be at least 18 and have one of: a bachelor's degree in education or human development; a two-year degree in early childhood education; a CDA or comparable credential; certification in a child learning philosophy plus 1 year of experience; a child development technician diploma; or 4 years of experience in a center or school-age program (ARSD 67:42:17:09).

Worth knowing

SD uses only three ratio tiers for centers (67:42:17:21): 1:5 for children under 3 (no separate infant/toddler tiers), 1:10 for ages 3–4, 1:15 for 5 and over. No fixed maximum group sizes: group size is limited by approved room capacity. A center serving 20 or fewer children in a mixed-age group may use 1:10 (max four children under 2, no more than two under 1). Rules per DSS licensing handbook effective March 2026.