DAY CARE CENTER - In the context of these regulations, day care shall begin no earlier than 5:00 a.m. Nighttime care shall begin at 7:00 p.m. Additional requirements for centers operating after 7:00 p.m. and for centers operating past midnight can be found in Section I.
Nighttime Care. A day care center is defined in the Code of Alabama 1975, Section 38-7-2, (4) as follows. Any child-care facility receiving more than twelve (12) children for daytime care during all or part of a day. The term "day care center" includes, but is not limited to, facilities commonly called "child-care centers", "day nurseries", "nursery schools", "kindergartens", and "play groups", with or without stated educational purposes. The term
further includes, but is not limited to, kindergarten or nursery schools or other daytime programs operated as a part of a private school and receiving children younger than lawful school age for daytime care for more than four hours a day, with or without stated educational purposes. The term does not include any of the following:
(a) Kindergartens or nursery schools or other daytime programs operated by public elementary systems or secondary level school units or institutions of higher learning;
(b) Kindergartens or nursery schools or other daytime programs, with or without stated educational purposes, operating no more than four hours a day and receiving children younger than lawful school age.
(c) Kindergartens or nursery schools or other daytime programs operated as a part of a private school and receiving children younger than lawful school age for four hours a day or less, with or without stated educational purposes;
(d) Facilities operated for more than four hours a day in connection with a shopping center or service or other similar facility, where transient children are cared for temporarily while parents or custodians of the children are occupied on the premises or are in the immediate vicinity and readily available; provided, however, that such facilities shall meet local and state fire and health requirements;
(e) Any type of day care center that is conducted on federal government premises; or
(f) Special activities programs for children of lawful school age including, but not limited to, athletics, crafts instruction and similar activities conducted on an organized and periodic basis by civic, charitable and governmental organizations; provided, however, that local and state fire and health requirements are met.