(a) A room used as a classroom by a schoolage childcare program shall not be required to meet the square footage or toilet requirements for child daycare centers if the program is operated on either of the following:

(1) A functioning schoolsite in the same facilities that have housed school children during the day, before or after school hours, or before and after school hours.

(2) A functioning schoolsite in facilities certified as usable as a classroom for instruction. A building owned by a school district, the state, or the schoolage child care program may meet the certification requirement if either of the following is provided to the department:

(A) Evidence that the building was approved as a classroom by the Division of the State Architect.

(B) A certification statement signed by the superintendent of the schools, or their designee, in the district where the schoolage childcare program is located, that the classroom building is of sufficient size to accommodate public instruction. The school district may make this certification regardless of the ownership of the classroom.

(b) School grounds, other than rooms used as classrooms, used by a schoolage childcare program operated on a functioning schoolsite pursuant to either paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) shall be exempt from all of the following requirements imposed by the department on child daycare facilities:

(1) Fencing, outdoor activity space, toilet, and isolation space requirements.

(2) Requirements to have exclusive use of the outdoor activity space or exclusive use of children’s rest rooms also used by students located on school grounds.

(c) The exemptions pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) shall continue during school vacation and intersession periods.

(d) (1) For purposes of this section, “schoolage childcare program” means a program for children who are currently enrolled in a school, including transitional kindergarten, as defined in § 48000 of the Education Code, or are dependent children living within the same household as a child attending a school, operated by an entity that contracts with the school to provide staff and program.

(2) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement and administer the changes made by the act that added this paragraph through letters or similar written instructions that shall have the same force and effect as regulations until regulations are adopted.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 571, Sec. 45. (AB 185) Effective September 27, 2022.)