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proposed rulemaking and will maintain the proposed language in the final rulemaking. While not required, both the federal government and OSSE encourage all licensed facilities to participate in the QRIS.

Additionally, a commenter noted that the language in § 101.3(a) was confusing and needed clarification. In response to this comment, OSSE clarified the language by striking the word “no” and adding a comma before the phrase “on a regular basis.”

One commenter requested clarification of the exemption for “informal or occasional parent- supervised play groups” in § 101.5(d). Section 101.5 sets forth the services and activities exempted from obtaining a license to operate a child development facility. Some of the services and activities are specifically exempted from licensure in the Facilities Act (D.C. Official Code § 7-1022). The rest of the services and activities are not new exemptions per se but rather OSSE clarifying language in the law defining a “child development facility” as one that provides care and other services for children on a regular basis by identifying additional entities that does not meet the definition, including an informal or occasional parent-supervised play group. OSSE intended that an informal or occasional parent-supervised play group is understood as a group of parents with their respective children gathering for the children to play together while their parents supervised. OSSE did not intend for the informal or occasional parent-supervised play group to be one parent supervising, and ultimately caring for, a group of children and where the group of children are gathered on a regular basis at the same place with a different parent supervising each time.

Section 199 presents the definitions for the terms and phrases used throughout the rulemaking. Two comments were received regarding the definitions. One commenter requested that OSSE reconsider the definition of “child development center”. The definition of “child development center” is based on the number of children a facility serves and the premises where child care is provided, not the type of program that is offered, thereby distinguishing a “center” from a “home” or “expanded home” offering child care services. The commenter further requested “private nursery schools and private child care centers” are included in OSSE’s definition of “private school.” However, neither the proposed rulemaking nor this final rulemaking define “private school.” Private, parochial and independent schools that meet certain requirements are either entirely exempted from licensure or exempted from specific provisions of licensure in the final rulemaking. The Facilities Act specifically excludes private schools “engaged in legally required and related functions” from the definition and therefore the requirement to be licensed. OSSE interprets this provision to mean a private school offering both kindergarten to twelfth grade services and pre-k services are exempted from licensure for services provided during the instructional day. This interpretation aligns with conforming amendments made to the Facilities Act when the Pre-k Act was passed to exempt pre-K programs in DCPS, public charter and high quality community based organizations from licensure. The final rulemaking makes this exemption clear in § 101.5(l). In addition, private, parochial, or independent schools caring for infants and toddlers that meet certain requirements, including offering a pre-K through twelfth (12th) grade educational program or any portion thereof, are exempted from provisions in the rulemaking around daily program activities and teacher qualifications. Accordingly, “private nursery schools and private child care centers” are not a school offering pre-K through twelfth