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maintain child care services if the primary location is not available, is identified. In Section 107.2, a Licensee may relocate to its identified contingency location for no more than thirty days due to temporary closure. Specifically, commenters asked whether notarizing an agreement was necessary, raised concerns about the amount of information required in a building use agreement, and sought clarification around the “health and safety inspections” requirement. The State Superintendent appreciates these comments and recognizes that a building use agreement is a new requirement, however, securing a contingency location through a valid building use agreement is essential to providing stability to children and staff during an emergency situation by allowing a licensee to continue to provide care and education even if the facility’s actual premise is not usable. To clarify § 103.5(g)(6), the State Superintendent has struck “health and” and added “that are required”. Additionally, one commenter asked whether another licensed facility could serve as a contingency location. Another licensed facility may only serve as a contingency location if the facility is licensed to serve more children than currently enrolled. Finally, although no comments were received seeking clarification, the State Superintendent amended the phrase to “not more than ninety (90) days old” to § 103.5(b) to clarify this provision. This amendment is intended to clarify that the State Superintendent requires a fire safety inspection certificate that is both current and specifically for the operation of a child development facility.

It is also worth noting that this final rulemaking continues to reserve Subsections 103.5(d) and 129.2(d) for requirements to limit, eliminate, and protect children from lead-based water hazards. Also, provisions to protect children from lead-based paint hazards are in this final rulemaking in Subsections 103.5(c), 129.2(c), and 152.4 through 152.5.

Renewal Application Section 104 sets forth the components of an application for a renewal license to operate a child development facility. Specifically, § 104.5 provides what supporting documentation is required for the application, which is almost identical to the required supporting documentation in § 103.5, however, there is one additional document, the Certificate of Immunization Compliance. The Certificate of Immunization Compliance is issued by the District’s Department of Health and certifies that the facility has reached the immunization compliance target for enrolled children and staff. One commenter asked whether child development homes would be required to obtain a Certificate of Immunization Compliance. All facilities, including centers, child development homes and expanded homes, must obtain a Certificate of Immunization Compliance to support the application for renewal license, unless the facility is granted a waiver pursuant to § 106. The commenter further asked how the Certificate of Immunization Compliance would take into account the grace period provided for immunizations. The current process to obtain a Certificate of Immunization Compliance from the Department of Health would remain the same, even with the new grace period. Facilities will continue to work with Department of Health’s Immunization Program to keep them informed of the status of their students. However, if a facility has not reached immunization compliance targets for enrolled children and staff because some children are within their grace periods, then the facility may apply for a waiver pursuant to § 106.

It is worth noting that OSSE received a number of comments during the ANPR comment period that the current immunization compliance target, ninety-eight percent (98%), is unrealistic and