Anyone In MN Ever Asked For A Variance?

[Unregistered]

variance

I'm not going over my capacity. My license is for 12 children. I will be asking to have the 20 month old moved to the preschool category and the 10 month to move to the toddler category. By doing so I would have 1 infant, 1 toddler, 4 preschool and 6 school age (total of 12 children). And as I posted previously it would only be 3 afternoons a week. Does that make more sense when I put it this way?
Or are you saying that I would be operating under a C1 with license capacity of 10 and would NOT be granted the variance because I would be asking to add 2 more children to my care?

[Unregistered]

variacne

I'm not going over my capacity. My license is for 12 children. I will be asking to have the 20 month old moved to the preschool category and the 10 month to move to the toddler category. By doing so I would have 1 infant, 1 toddler, 4 preschool and 6 school age (total of 12 children).
What I actually would have is 2 infants, one toddler 3 preschool and 6 schoolage (all kindergarten). Which is my license capacity of 12 but with one more infant then I am suppose to have.
And as I posted previously it would only be 3 afternoons a week. Does that make more sense when I put it this way?

Or are you saying that I would be operating under a C1 with license capacity of 10 and would NOT be granted the variance because I would be asking to add 2 more children to my care?

[Blackcat31]

I'm not going over my capacity. My license is for 12 children. I will be asking to have the 20 month old moved to the preschool category and the 10 month to move to the toddler category. By doing so I would have 1 infant, 1 toddler, 4 preschool and 6 school age (total of 12 children).
What I actually would have is 2 infants, one toddler 3 preschool and 6 schoolage (all kindergarten). Which is my license capacity of 12 but with one more infant then I am suppose to have.
And as I posted previously it would only be 3 afternoons a week. Does that make more sense when I put it this way?

Or are you saying that I would be operating under a C1 with license capacity of 10 and would NOT be granted the variance because I would be asking to add 2 more children to my care?

Sorry... I know how confusing our ratios can be.

Any time you have 2 infants in care (with only one adult) you are limited to 10 kids total.

IF you did move the kids (the infant as an infant, the 10 month old to toddler and the 20 month old to preschool) age, you would still be in ratios. BUT, I am pretty sure that you would have a better chance of getting a variance if you were only looking to move one of kids. (like the 20 month old to the preschool age group) as I've heard that variances for infants are not all that easy to get because of the strict rules we have in place regarding safe sleep and all that.

I know different factors come into play when variances are issued. Things such as sleep spaces, program structure, length of time you've been in business, past correction orders and your ability to adjust your day to accommodate the needs of the kids you have.

I hope that makes more sense.

You can always put in the request. The worst case scenario would be no so it can't hurt to try.

[KarenMN]

Thank you for your reply. I have done daycare for over 35 years and have never requested a variance before. I don't need it until April 2015. I don't care for kids during the summer (families are all teachers) so I only need April and May. I was hoping since it was only for those 2 months and only for 3 afternoons a week I would be able to get it. I guess I can try and see what happens, I just wasn't sure if it was worth trying. Thanks again.

[Angelsj]

I am in MN.

Variances will NEVER be granted for MORE kids than you are suppose to have.

You can NEVER go over capacities/ratios.

Variances are suppose to be for situations where you are needing a 20 month old to be moved to the 24 month and up age category and similar situations but never so you can take MORE kids than your license allows.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Also what area are you in? I've heard variances are virtually unheard of in certain areas of the state.

BC, I am in MN and I have a current variance for 14 (four over my capacity/ratio) so it can be done. Mine is specific, however to the overage being school age only. The younger ratios must be in compliance in order for the overage to occur.

[Blackcat31]

BC, I am in MN and I have a current variance for 14 (four over my capacity/ratio) so it can be done. Mine is specific, however to the overage being school age only. The younger ratios must be in compliance in order for the overage to occur.

Wouldn't 14 kids be in ratios? Wouldn't it be a C3 license?

I've had 14 kids many times. The 4 extra's have to be school agers.

What is your variance for... not having the second adult?

I don't think that is what they mean when they say over capacity. I've always understood it as over max capacity as in you can't have a variance to have 17 kids. like that

I also think they are way more lenient with the SA'er and are pretty tight with the infants/toddlers due to what I mentioned above. At least that's how my area has always been. I've had 4 or 5 variances in my time and those were just sticking points we'd been told.

Wonder if it's an area thing?

[SignMeUp]

I think it can go county-by-county or even licensor-by-licensor.
I have had quite a few variances over the years, sometimes like what the poster asked about. (More recently, no variances were allowed in my county, although now there is a variance form on my county's website, so who knows? It's not like they tell us anything : Anyway, this is a bit historical, since variances have not been allowed here for probably 10+ years.

The way I looked at the ages/numbers was this:
Within my license that allowed 12 children, 10 under school-age, I was asking to have 1 extra child under age 1 year.
That would also be 3 under age 2 instead of 2 under age 2.
There was no "moving one child up to this category" and "moving another child to this category". It was simply having one extra child under age 2, within my normal license capacity of 12.

We were always limited to a variance request of no more than 30 days. They let us count the actual days, so three days a week for ten weeks would be okay.
I believe that they would ok a longer variance, but then it had to be vetted by the state as well as the county.

And we always had to state how/why this would not affect safety or the care of the children.
Under this I included items such as:
Children and parents were all familiar with me and my childcare.
Children would all remain on the first floor during all childcare hours.
Evacuation crib was in an accessible location.
No additional children would be accepted into care during the course of the variance, even if they fit within my license.
Also I always had a very clean record. No safety/ratio/supervision violations ever.

[Blackcat31]

I think it can go county-by-county or even licensor-by-licensor.
I have had quite a few variances over the years, sometimes like what the poster asked about. (More recently, no variances were allowed in my county, although now there is a variance form on my county's website, so who knows? It's not like they tell us anything : Anyway, this is a bit historical, since variances have not been allowed here for probably 10+ years.

The way I looked at the ages/numbers was this:
Within my license that allowed 12 children, 10 under school-age, I was asking to have 1 extra child under age 1 year.
That would also be 3 under age 2 instead of 2 under age 2.
There was no "moving one child up to this category" and "moving another child to this category". It was simply having one extra child under age 2, within my normal license capacity of 12.

We were always limited to a variance request of no more than 30 days. They let us count the actual days, so three days a week for ten weeks would be okay.
I believe that they would ok a longer variance, but then it had to be vetted by the state as well as the county.

And we always had to state how/why this would not affect safety or the care of the children.
Under this I included items such as:
Children and parents were all familiar with me and my childcare.
Children would all remain on the first floor during all childcare hours.
Evacuation crib was in an accessible location.
No additional children would be accepted into care during the course of the variance, even if they fit within my license.
Also I always had a very clean record. No safety/ratio/supervision violations ever.

^^^ This is how it is here except we have been given variances freely in the past and present and the time limit has usually been 12 months.

[Angelsj]

Wouldn't 14 kids be in ratios? Wouldn't it be a C3 license?

I've had 14 kids many times. The 4 extra's have to be school agers.

What is your variance for... not having the second adult?

I don't think that is what they mean when they say over capacity. I've always understood it as over max capacity as in you can't have a variance to have 17 kids. like that

I also think they are way more lenient with the SA'er and are pretty tight with the infants/toddlers due to what I mentioned above. At least that's how my area has always been. I've had 4 or 5 variances in my time and those were just sticking points we'd been told.

Wonder if it's an area thing?

I don't have to have a second adult...yet my dh is always home (he works nights) so...
Honestly, I don't know how to answer that. Not sure if that means over capacity or not. It is very confusing.