OLYMPIA—When the Seattle School District had a problem with child-care licensing in older buildings, they asked state Rep. David Frockt to help them find a solution.
On Wednesday, the House voted 62-35 for legislation proposed by Frockt (D-Seattle) that enables children to receive before- and after-school child care in the same buildings where they attend school.
“The problem was that school buildings were being held to different licensing standards at different times of the day, because the child-care services were developed after different building codes were created,” said Frockt. “But how can the exact same kids in the exact same building be safe until 2 p.m. and unsafe at 2:20 p.m.? Schools simply asked for rational consistency, and that’s what we’re working for.”
Frockt’s House Bill 1776 directs the state Department of Early Learning to work with other agencies to create consistent licensing requirements for child care centers that are operated in public buildings attended by prekindergarten or school-aged children.
Representatives of the Seattle School District told a Feb. 10 public hearing that passing Frockt’s legislation will help them address vital early-learning needs in Seattle.
“It will increase opportunities for children to attend programs that support school readiness and provide additional learning time, and increase the access of our low-income families to high-quality programs that they may otherwise not be able to afford,” said Mary Seaton, the Director of Early Learning at Seattle Public Schools
Some lawmakers opposed the bill because it held older buildings to different standards than new buildings, but school district officials said that consistent standards would not affect student safety.
“Seattle schools is not promoting removal of critical safeguards,” Seaton said. “However, we do question how in schools and other public buildings children are deemed safe for large portions of the day and not other portions of the day.”
Frockt added that his bill requires the Department of Early Learning to work with the state fire marshal’s office to develop appropriate standards.
The measure now moves to the Senate for further consideration.
The passage of HB 1776 means that four of the five bills that Frockt introduced this year have passed the House. In the past week, the House has passed his proposals to create civil remedies for victims harmed by malicious online impersonators (HB 1652), make Washington the first state in the nation to ban coal-tar paving sealants (HB 1721), and strengthen long-term protection orders for victims of domestic violence (HB 1565).
# # #