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HB26-1282 • 2026

Eliminate Duplicative Regulation of School Child Care Centers

The term "child care center" includes before- and after-school programs and preschool programs. Under current law, a school district's child care centers are regulated by the Colorado department of ed

Children Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Rep. L. Goldstein, Rep. J. Phillips, Sen. K. Mullica
Last action
2026-03-12
Official status
House Committee on Education Lay Over Unamended - Amendment(s) Failed
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Eliminate Duplicative Regulation of School Child Care Centers

This bill removes certain regulations from school districts' child care centers to reduce duplication and conflicts with existing rules.

What This Bill Does

  • Includes before- and after-school programs and preschools in the definition of 'child care center'.
  • Lists specific rule subjects that do not apply to public child care centers run by school districts because they are already regulated or cause conflict.

Who It Names or Affects

  • School districts that operate child care centers.
  • The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC).

Terms To Know

child care center
A place where children are cared for, including before- and after-school programs and preschools.
duplicative regulation
Rules that overlap with or repeat existing rules from other agencies.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how the removal of regulations will be enforced.
  • It is unclear if this change will reduce administrative costs and confusion for school districts as intended.
  • The effective date is July 1, 2026.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

L.011

HOU Education

Passed [*]

Plain English: The amendment changes Colorado law to allow school districts' before- and after-school programs to use existing safety inspections and staff training requirements from the Colorado Department of Education instead of duplicating efforts with other state agencies.

  • School district child care centers can now meet fire and radon inspection requirements by providing a recent report from their property, avoiding duplicate inspections.
  • Child care centers operating on school district properties no longer need to comply with separate staff training or space requirements if they already follow similar rules set by the Colorado Department of Education.
  • The amendment also allows playground safety certifications from recognized organizations to be accepted without requiring additional inspections.
  • Some federal grant requirements may still apply, and child care centers must meet these minimum standards even if state regulations are waived.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-18 House

    House Committee on Education Refer Amended to Appropriations

  2. 2026-03-12 House

    House Committee on Education Lay Over Unamended - Amendment(s) Failed

  3. 2026-03-12 House

    House Committee on Education Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only

  4. 2026-02-20 House

    Introduced In House - Assigned to Education

Official Summary Text

The term "child care center" includes before- and after-school programs and preschool programs. Under current law, a school district's child care centers are regulated by the Colorado department of education (CDE) and by the Colorado department of early childhood (CDEC), among other agencies.
The bill lists CDEC rule subjects that do not apply to public child care centers operated by school districts because the specified CDEC rule subjects are contradictory to or duplicative of existing CDE or other state agency rules.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Second Regular Session
Seventy-fifth General Assembly
STATE OF COLORADO
INTRODUCED

LLS NO. 26-0724.03 Lindy Schaible x4215 HOUSE BILL 26-1282
House Committees Senate Committees
Education
A BILL FOR AN ACT
CONCERNING THE ELIMINATION OF DUPLICATIVE REGULATION OF101
SCHOOL DISTRICT CHILD CARE CENTERS.102
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does
not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill
passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that
applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at
http://leg.colorado.gov.)
The term "child care center" includes before- and after-school
programs and preschool programs. Under current law, a school district's
child care centers are regulated by the Colorado department of education
(CDE) and by the Colorado department of early childhood (CDEC),
among other agencies.
The bill lists CDEC rule subjects that do not apply to public child
HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
Phillips and Goldstein,
SENATE SPONSORSHIP
Mullica,
Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing law.
Dashes through the words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law.
care centers operated by school districts because the specified CDEC rule
subjects are contradictory to or duplicative of existing CDE or other state
agency rules.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:1
SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly2
finds that:3
(a) Colorado school districts provide comprehensive educational4
and enrichment opportunities to students through before- and after-school5
programs and preschool programs;6
(b) Colorado Revised Statutes and rules adopted by the Colorado7
state board of education require the Colorado department of education8
and other state agencies to extensively regulate and oversee school district9
operations, including student health and safety protections, student10
learning, employment practices, and staff training;11
(c) Regulation of a school district's before- and after-school12
programs and preschool programs by the Colorado department of13
education, the Colorado department of early childhood, and other state14
agencies has resulted in duplicative and contradictory requirements,15
including, but not limited to:16
(I) Conflicting restrictions on playground equipment;17
(II) Duplicative employee background checks and staff training18
requirements;19
(III) Duplicative inspections to ensure compliance with fire,20
health, and zoning requirements;21
(IV) Duplicative student immunization tracking requirements;22
(V) Staff-to-child ratio requirements for before- and after-school23
programs that do not apply during the regular school day; and24
HB26-1282-2-
(VI) Conflicting restrictions on the consumption of chocolate1
milk, which is prohibited in before- and after-school programs but served2
daily in school cafeterias; and3
(d) The duplicative and conflicting regulations for a school4
district's before- and after-school programs and preschool programs5
significantly increase administrative costs, delay staff onboarding, restrict6
student access and program capacity, and create confusion for students7
and families without improving student health or safety or program8
quality.9
(2) Therefore, the general assembly declares it is necessary and10
appropriate that before- and after-school programs and preschool11
programs operated by a school district not be subject to conflicting or12
duplicative regulations from the Colorado department of education and13
the Colorado department of early childhood.14
SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, amend 26.5-5-30515
as follows:16
26.5-5-305. Public preschool provider - licensing - rules.17
(1) Public preschool providers are subject to the requirements of18
this part 3. Because of the unique circumstances presented by preschool19
classrooms provided by school districts and charter schools, which20
circumstances do not arise in classrooms for older children and youth, the21
department shall license public preschool providers only to protect the22
health and safety of children in public preschool classrooms.23
Notwithstanding any provision of this part 3 to the contrary, licensing for24
public preschool providers must focus only on those aspects of the25
preschool program and environment that affect children's health and26
safety and are not already actively regulated by other federal or state27
HB26-1282-3-
agencies or departments. The department shall align any requirements for1
the license related to qualifications or credentialing of program staff with2
the requirements for an early childhood endorsement for a license issued3
by the department of education pursuant to article 60.5 of title 22.4
(2) R ULES ADOPTED BY THE DEPARTMENT ON THE FOLLOWING5
SUBJECTS DO NOT APPLY TO A PUBLIC PRESCHOOL OPERATED BY A SCHOOL6
DISTRICT:7
(a) BACKGROUND CHECKS;8
(b) STAFF TRAINING;9
(c) FIRE INSPECTIONS, HEALTH INSPECTIONS, AND ZONING CODES;10
(d) DOCUMENTATION OF IMMUNIZATION STATUS;11
(e) ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS AND REPORTS REGARDING STAFF12
SUPERVISION; AND13
(f) WRITTEN ATTENDANCE VERIFICATION THROUGHOUT THE DAY.14
(3) R ULES ADOPTED BY THE DEPARTMENT ON THE FOLLOWING15
SUBJECTS DO NOT APPLY TO A BEFORE - OR AFTER -SCHOOL PROGRAM16
OPERATED BY A SCHOOL DISTRICT:17
(a) PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT;18
(b) BACKGROUND CHECKS;19
(c) STAFF TRAINING;20
(d) FIRE INSPECTIONS, HEALTH INSPECTIONS, AND ZONING CODES;21
(e) DOCUMENTATION OF IMMUNIZATION STATUS OR CERTIFICATE22
OF EXEMPTION;23
(f) A DMINISTRATIVE RECORDS AND REPORTS REGARDING STAFF24
SUPERVISION;25
(g) REPORTS REGARDING STUDENT INJURIES;26
(h) REQUIRED STAFF SUPERVISION;27
HB26-1282-4-
(i) INDOOR LEARNING REQUIREMENT; AND1
(j) FLAVORED MILKS.2
SECTION 3. Effective date. This act takes effect July 1, 2026.3
SECTION 4. Safety clause. The general assembly finds,4
determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate5
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for6
the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state7
institutions.8
HB26-1282-5-