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Note: The legislative history of this chapter, except where specifically noted at the end of a section, is as follows: Ordinance No. 63410-A, passed September 22, 1924.

CROSS REFERENCES

Licensing provisions, RC 5104.02 et seq.

Inspections, RC 5104.04

Building, fire prevention and food service requirements, RC 5104.05

Venting heaters and burners, CO 629.01

227.01     Definition

As used in this Chapter, "day nursery" means an institution or place in which five or more children not of common parentage, are received for periods of not less than four hours, nor more than twenty-four hours at one time, for care apart from their parents, whether for compensation, reward or otherwise.
(Ord. No. 2973-85. Passed 1-27-86, eff. 1-29-86)

227.02     Age Limit—Repealed

227.03     Permit Required

No day nursery shall be opened, maintained or conducted in the City without a written permit therefor having been first issued by the Commissioner of Assessments and Licenses. No person, firm or corporation shall open, maintain, conduct or assist in the opening, maintenance or conduct of a day nursery in the City, except after a permit has been issued therefor, and then only in full compliance with all the provisions of this chapter.

227.04     Permit Application

Any person, firm, association or corporation desiring a permit to open, maintain and conduct a day nursery shall make written application to the Commissioner of Assessments and Licenses, which application shall state the name and residence of the applicant, and if the applicant is a corporation or association, the name and residence of all the officers thereof; the present or proposed location of the day nursery; the purpose for which it is to be opened, maintained or conducted; the accommodations provided for the children to be admitted to such day nursery; the name and address of the superintendent or of the person or persons to be in charge thereof; the name and address of the examining physician of the nursery; and such other information as the Commissioner may request.

227.05     Inquiry Preliminary to Granting Permit

The Commissioner of Health, after such application is made, shall make or cause to be made a strict investigation of the statements and information contained in such application, and a thorough inspection of the premises intended to be used for such day nursery.

227.06     Conditions on Which Permit Is Granted; Fee

If the Commissioner of Health finds that the statements in the application are correct; that the premises intended to be used as a day nursery are suitably located for a day nursery and adequately equipped with all necessary heating, ventilating and sanitary devices to insure the health and well-being of the children to be admitted to the day nursery; that the application is made in good faith for the care and betterment of the children; that the superintendent or person to be in charge of the day nursery is of good moral character and of sufficient knowledge, experience and ability to properly conduct, manage and maintain the day nursery; that the proposed day nursery and the premises occupied by the same comply in all respects with the requirements of this chapter; then, but not otherwise, the Commissioner of Health shall recommend to the Commissioner of Assessments and Licenses in writing, that a license be issued. The Commissioner of Assessments and Licenses shall issue or cause to be issued a permit authorizing the applicant or applicants in question to open and conduct a day nursery at the place specified, which permit shall state the maximum number of children that may be admitted to or cared for in the day nursery at one time. The fee to be paid annually to the City Treasurer for the permit shall be fifty dollars ($50.00) and no permit shall be issued except upon payment of the fee. Every permit issued under this section shall expire on December 31 of the year in which it is issued, and no second or succeeding permit shall be issued to any person, firm, association, or corporation, except after a reinspection of the premises, as provided for in the case of the issuance of an original permit.
(Ord. No. 2393-02. Passed 2-3-03, eff. 2-3-03)

227.07     Right of Entry; Revocation of Permit

The Commissioner of Health shall inspect, or cause to be inspected all day nurseries in the City, whenever and as often as shall be necessary for the adequate supervision, control and regulation of the same. Whenever the Commissioner receives a written complaint signed by two or more persons to the effect that any day nursery in the City is not managed, maintained, operated or conducted in compliance with the provisions of this chapter, or that the physical or moral well-being of any child or children cared for in any day nursery is not being adequately and properly provided for, the Commissioner shall, within ten days after such written complaint has been delivered to him, cause an investigation of the day nursery complained of to be made, and shall make or cause to be made a written report of the result of such investigation. The Commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered either by himself, or any representative designated by him for that purpose, to enter any day nursery in the City and the premises on which the same is conducted, for the purpose of making full inspection thereof. If upon any such inspection the Commissioner finds that any of the provisions of this chapter are being violated in connection with the conduct and operation of any day nursery, or that the physical and moral well-being of any child or children cared for therein is not being adequately provided for, then and in such event he may revoke the permit issued for the operation of such day nursery, and the operation of such day nursery shall thereupon become unlawful.

227.08     Ventilation, Light and Heat

All rooms in a day nursery shall be adequately heated and ventilated, and no room shall be used for day nursery purposes unless the same has windows opening upon a public thoroughfare, or a yard or court not less than ten feet wide, which windows shall have a total glass and sash area equivalent to one-eighth of the total floor area of such room. Except in cold or stormy weather, each room used for day nursery purposes shall be ventilated by means of open windows, and no day nursery shall be operated or conducted unless it is provided with heating apparatus approved by the Commissioner of Health and installed in conformity with law and ordinance, sufficient to maintain a temperature of not less than 68° F., at all times in all parts of the day nursery to which children are admitted.

227.09     Floor Space

Each bed or crib shall be so placed at all times as to provide a space of not less than one foot on all sides around such bed or crib, except where such bed or crib may be in contact with a wall. Nothing herein contained, however, shall prevent the installation of sectional metal beds of the type and construction approved by the Commissioner of Health.

227.10     Rooms Above Ground Level

No room shall be used for day nursery purposes unless the floor of the same is above the highest level of the ground adjacent thereto, except if the Commissioner of Health shall upon a full examination of such room pronounce the same safe, healthful and sanitary.

227.11     Playground

No day nursery shall be opened, maintained, operated or conducted unless there is appurtenant thereto a playground of sufficient size and free from unhealthful or unsanitary conditions, or conditions which are dangerous to the physical or moral well-being of the children cared for in the day nursery, which playground shall be easily and immediately accessible from the day nursery. Such playground shall be used daily by children cared for in such day nursery, except in stormy or excessively cold weather.

227.12     Premises to Be Kept Clean

Each day nursery, every part thereof and all of the premises appurtenant thereto shall be kept in a clean, sanitary and healthful condition, free from dangerous or noxious substances of any kind, or any conditions that may, in the judgment of the Commissioner of Health, tend to injure the physical or moral well-being of the children admitted or cared for in such day nursery. No dry dusting or sweeping shall be done in any day nursery while children are cared for therein.

227.13     Bedding

The pads or under-blankets of the cribs or beds must be protected by rubber or oilcloth, and they shall be kept clean and in a sanitary condition at all times. Children not of common parents may not occupy the same bed at the same time.

227.14     Care of Children's Clothing

The outer garments of the children shall be removed and placed in a well-ventilated room provided therefor. Unless the clothing worn by the child is thoroughly clean on admission, a suitable apron, the property of the day nursery, shall be worn through the day, and each individual apron shall be marked for identification unless a clean apron is provided daily. All diapers that have become soiled during the day shall be immediately placed in water in a covered vessel especially provided for the purpose. As soon thereafter as practicable they shall be thoroughly washed and boiled. No diapers in an unclean condition shall be removed from the premises.

227.15     Use of Common Washcloths, etc., Prohibited

The common use of washcloths, towels, bed linen, combs, tooth brushes, hair brushes and drinking cups is prohibited.

227.16     Toilet Facilities

Each day nursery shall be adequately supplied with hot and cold water and toilet facilities within the building or part of the building used as such day nursery. There shall be separate toilets for boys and girls of school age.

227.17     Isolation Room; Screening

Each day nursery shall be provided with an isolation room of adequate size to provide for the isolation and care of any child having or suspected of having any contagious, infectious, parasitic or communicable disease, pending the examination of such child, and its removal from the day nursery. Such isolation room shall be completely separated from all other parts of the day nursery, and shall be so situated, maintained and equipped as to prevent the communication or spread of any disease from any occupant of such isolation room to other children admitted to or cared for in such day nursery. All doors, windows and other outside openings of any day nursery shall be adequately provided with screens from May 15 to November 15 of each year while such day nursery is in operation, so as to prevent the entrance of flies into such day nursery. Each day nursery shall be kept and maintained free from flies and other insects.

227.18     Care and Selection of Food

The water, milk and food served to children admitted to or cared for in any day nursery shall be clean, suitable and sufficient for the children to whom the same is served. Each day nursery shall maintain a dietary list containing the names of all foods served to the children admitted to or cared for therein, and no food not contained in such dietary list shall be served in such day nursery to any child or children. The dietary list of each day nursery shall be approved by the examining physician thereof and changed from time to time in accordance with the directions of the Commissioner of Health. All nipples, bottles and containers of food and drink used in any day nursery shall be kept thoroughly clean and sterilized at all times. Nipples shall be kept in separate containers, and no nipple shall be used until it has been completely sterilized.

227.19     Sanitary Condition

Each day nursery and all of the rooms, walls, floors, ceilings, closets, cupboards, stoves, refrigerators, furniture and other appurtenances thereof, shall be kept in a thoroughly clean and sanitary condition at all times, and free from any dangerous, noxious or deleterious substances or conditions.

227.20     Examining Physician

Each day nursery shall have an examining physician, who shall be a physician in good standing admitted to the practice of medicine in the State of Ohio, approved by the Commissioner of Health. Such examining physician shall have a residence or office not more than five miles distant from the location of the day nursery to which he is attached, and during any absence or incapacity of the regular examining physician of any day nursery, a substitute examining physician having the same qualifications shall be provided.

227.21     Medical Examination Before Admission; Contagious Disease

No child shall be admitted to the day nursery unless such child has been given a thorough and complete medical examination by the examining physician of the day nursery, or at a public dispensary or infant welfare station maintained by the City. Such examination shall include all laboratory tests necessary to indicate the physical condition of the child examined. The result of such examination shall be reduced to writing and preserved in the permanent files kept at the day nursery. No child may be admitted to any day nursery unless the examination indicated by the record thereof shows that such child is free from any contagious, infectious, communicable or parasitic disease, and duly protected against contagion or infection. No examining physician shall make any untrue or incorrect statement in any report provided for herein. No person, firm, association or corporation maintaining or conducting any day nursery shall knowingly receive any child therein having or suspected of having tonsillitis, infantile paralysis, coryza, conjunctivitis, bronchitis, tuberculosis, impetigo contagiosa, pediculosis, ringworm, favus, gonorrheal vaginitis or chronic otitis media or any other contagious, infectious, communicable or parasitic disease. However, the placing of any child having or suspected of having any such disease in the isolation room pending its examination or its removal from the day nursery, shall not be in violation of this section.

227.22     Daily Inspection; Reexamination After Absence

Each child admitted to any day nursery shall be inspected by the matron, nurse or superintendent, or other person in charge of such day nursery, each and every day that such child is admitted thereto, and if any sign or symptom appears indicating that any child in such day nursery is suffering from any contagious, infectious, parasitic or communicable disease, such child shall be immediately placed in the isolation room and kept entirely separate and apart from the other children, in accordance with the quarantine rules of the Division of Health. The examining physician or another physician admitted to practice in the State of Ohio shall be promptly notified and a thorough medical examination of the child shall be made within three hours after its removal to such isolation room. If such examination indicates that such child actually or probably has any such disease, the child shall be promptly removed from the day nursery, and a prompt report of such occurrence shall immediately be forwarded in writing to the Commissioner of Health. Any child absent from any day nursery for more than a week shall be subjected to a medical reexamination precisely as in the case of its original admission to the day nursery. Each child admitted to or cared for in any day nursery shall be examined at least once every three months.

227.23     Overcrowding

No room in any day nursery shall be overcrowded. Any room shall be deemed overcrowded for the purposes of this chapter if there is less than 300 cubic feet of air space in any such room for each child kept in any such room at any time.

227.24     Nursery Register and Medical Records

Every person, film, association or corporation conducting a day nursery shall enter in a register to be kept for that purpose the name and address of each child received, the date of reception, the names and addresses of the parents or guardians of the child and the reason it is brought to the nursery. They shall also keep on file signed records of all medical examinations. Such register and records shall be open at all times for the inspection and use of the Commissioner of Health.

227.25     Reports to the Commissioner of Health

(a) Every person, firm, association or corporation conducting, managing or maintaining a day nursery shall report to the Commissioner of Health at once by telephone and by mail all cases and suspected cases of contagious diseases, such as smallpox, chickenpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, mumps, measles, German measles, impetigo contagiosa, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, infantile paralysis, epidemic cerebrospinal fever, pneumonia, summer diarrhea, and any other disease that may be classified by the Commissioner as actively communicable. The report shall give the names and addresses of persons so afflicted and such other information as may aid in eradicating such diseases.

(b) Every person, firm, association or corporation conducting a day nursery shall also make out a monthly report in writing on or before the fifth day of each calendar month, giving a complete record of the operation of the nursery during the preceding calendar month, showing the number of children admitted, all accidental injuries and deaths, the cause of the same and such other information as may be necessary to an intelligent supervision of the nursery. This report shall be kept in the permanent records of the day nursery.

(c) All reports required herein shall be made upon blanks approved by the Commissioner and shall be signed by the superintendent or the official in charge. All records placed in permanent files under the requirements of this chapter shall be open to inspection of the Commissioner or any officer or employee of the Division of Health designated by such Commissioner at any time.

227.99     Penalty

Any person, firm, association or corporation who opens, maintains or conducts a day nursery without first having been granted a permit therefor, or after the due revocation of such permit, or in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, shall be fined not less than ten dollars ($10.00), nor more than two hundred dollars ($200.00) for each offense. If any person, firm, association or corporation conducting a day nursery violates any of the provisions of this chapter relating to the safety of, or the accommodations for the children, the Commissioner of Health hereby is authorized to close such day nursery and keep it closed until such repairs or alterations have been made as will comply with the provisions of this chapter.