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what's your tolerance for DC being out of ratio?

shakinrosshakinros member
in Working Moms
This morning when I dropped DD off, she was the 9th kid in the toddler room. Another toddler was right on our heels, and there was only 1 teacher. This is not the first time my kid has been the 8th or 9th one into the room, but today was especially noticeable since there was a new girl in hysterics that was taking up most of the teacher's attention. My daughter is the youngest at 18mo, and I think the oldest kid in this room is around 3. We're in NJ, where I think the ratio for this age is 1:6.

I went to the front desk to see if they had someone who could float down until the next teacher arrived (in 15 minutes or so), but no one was there. I've sent an email about this to the director and am waiting for her response. It seems to me they have an ongoing staffing problem between 8 & 8:30 when all the kids are arriving.

How long would you put up with your DC being out of ratio? Is this a "one time is too many" issue or "three strikes and you're out" or...?
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Re: what's your tolerance for DC being out of ratio?

  • jf198400jf198400 member
    This sounds pretty bad, and I tend to be lenient on ratio. In PA ratio for kids under 2 is 1:5 so that is a Lot of kids. If there was no one in the office that says they are already stretched too thin in other rooms too. How long has this been going on? I would speak to the director in person rather than waiting for a follow up email.

    We had some ratio issues recently when 3 teachers all quit for other teaching jobs at the same time. It was only a problem for about a week, and I was okay with it because 1- I knew they were working to hire new teachers as quickly as possible, and 2- it was in my DDs preschool room where the kids are older, more independent. I would not have been okay with being way past ratio in the toddler room where there is more potential for trouble (biters, diaper changes taking attention away from watching kids, etc).
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  • cecilyandgautamcecilyandgautam member
    Well in my state ratios for under 2 are 4 to 1 and in the county we use, they have a stricter requirement of 3 to 1. I don't mind if it's 4 to 1 (in compliance with state, not with county) on the rare occasion, but 8-9 to 1 adult for kids under 2 sounds like total madness to me. There's a serious biter in our group and there's no way my DCP could keep that under wraps (or manage other safety issues) with that many kids running around and no back up set of hands. 
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  • traveltheworldtraveltheworld member

    There were a few times when we went to drop off DS (19 months), he was the kid that put the room over ratio.  In each instance, the teacher very nicely asked me to stay until someone else could come in.  It was never more than 5 minutes, and if a floater wasn't available, the director or assistant director would come in.  It didn't bother me, as it showed that they were mindful of the ratio requirements.  In your case, where it seemed like the teacher didn't even have a chance to respond and nothing would have been done, it would bother me.  Probably not enough to switch DC, but I'd bring it up with the director.

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  • VORVOR member
    The younger the age, the more the ratio's matter to me.  I wouldn't leave over this - yet.  But I'd want to see what the director says AND if you see an improvement.

    I think 9 toddlers to 1 teacher is insane.
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  • jlaOKjlaOK member
    Like @traveltheworld the times my daycare has been out of ratio the teacher always calls and asks a floater or the director/assistant director to come to the room.  I would talk to the director and see what her response is.  It is also worrisome that there was no one at the front desk when you dropped off.
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  • emberlee3emberlee3 member
    I would have talked to the director if I had seen them out of ratio more than once.  Or maybe just once.  In my state, ratio is based off the youngest child, so it would be 1:5 for your LO's classroom.  Even if the kids are all at least 24-36 months, that's 1:7.  1:9 or 1:10 is unacceptable.
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  • shakinrosshakinros member
    I like this place well enough but I don't love it and this has definitely got me worried. No email back yet but I've asked DH to bring it up this afternoon when he does the pickup. Hopefully someone will be at the desk then!

    (Side note: there is a code for the door so it's not like anyone can walk right in. I wouldn't be bothered by an empty front desk except that means there was really no backup for this poor teacher today!)
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  • jennyelfjennyelf member

    traveltheworld said:

    There were a few times when we went to drop off DS (19 months), he was the kid that put the room over ratio.  In each instance, the teacher very nicely asked me to stay until someone else could come in.  It was never more than 5 minutes, and if a floater wasn't available, the director or assistant director would come in.  It didn't bother me, as it showed that they were mindful of the ratio requirements.  In your case, where it seemed like the teacher didn't even have a chance to respond and nothing would have been done, it would bother me.  Probably not enough to switch DC, but I'd bring it up with the director.

    This is exactly what my daycare does too. I've never dropped off my kid into an out of ratio room, they always place my kid in a room that's in ratio or have another teacher or even the front desk staff come by to keep the rooms in ratio.
    As a result, I don't think I would tolerate it either, knowing how careful they generally are about keeping rooms in ratio.
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  • cedentoncedenton member
    I have zero tolerance for infants. With a toddler room, if I noticed, it would depend on just how far out of ratio they were. I'd probably let it go once and then say something.

    Last Monday when a set of twins started in DS' room they were one over as I was coming in. The teacher immediately called for someone to take an older child into the common room. When that teacher came in to get him, she saw the situation and then rearranged things so she could come in to DS' room herself because she said the teacher needed help since the twins were upset while adjusting. I was very pleased with their response.
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  • Samiantha101Samiantha101 member
    Our daycare is very strict about never being out of ratio. I've never seen out of ratio in fact. If they need bathroom breaks, they phone the admins and a floater will come relieve them. Their breaks are scheduled. They really have it down to a science. I think I would be ok with it on a rare occasion; things come up. I would be less ok with it the younger the children are.
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