Time-Senstive Advocacy needed by Dec. 1st, 2024!

Help us advocate for outdoor preschool licensing with the heart and soul that forest and nature schools need.

If you've been following the MD pilot, then you know that we've made tremendous progress with MSDE to draft regulations for outdoor preschools since HB525 was enacted on July 1, 2023. Over the last year, the advisory stakeholders group has worked dilligently to help draft regulations that are now up for public comment with the Board of Education. The drafts regs allow safety measures for outdoor napping, firemaking, outdoor toileting/handwashing and more, which we are proud of. We are encouraged by the work thus far, but there is another issue to address before the pilot can move forward.

Despite our expert stakeholder's guidance and testimony, MSDE included a regulation that would require outdoor preschools to CLOSE if the temperatures are 30 degrees or below. We understand that for people who are not regularly outdoors with children, 30 degrees may seem plenty cold! But experienced nature-based educators know that with the proper gear and teacher training (which is baked into the new regs already), we can safely be outdoors children in colder temperatures. 

The drafted regulations serve as a template for future outdoor preschool licensing, not only in Maryland, but far beyond. Maryland is the first East Coast state to pass legislation for a four-year outdoor preschool pilot and our regulations will affect other state efforts. We are very motivated to ensure that these regulations ensure safe, excellent opportunities for Maryland’s children and families, and result in sustainable programs for families and staff. 

Unless we act now, these regulations will be promulgated into law, making outdoor preschool an unrealistic, unreliable form of childcare through winters in Maryland. We need your help! Please advocate for the crucial change below and reject the regulations as they currently exist by December 1. 

We have included detailed information below, but feel free to view this 10-minute video with passcode: ZG?Giz5z if you prefer a verbal explanation from Monica Wiedel-Lubinski, Executive Director of ANBE. The "Take Action" heading below explains exactly how you can help.

WHAT'S THE ISSUE? COLD WEATHER.

These regs would require class to be cancelled altogether if the temperature is 30 degrees or below. Our stakeholders group shared a range of resources and examples of programs that safely operate in cold temperatures to the benefit of the children and explained why. For example:

• Precautions around proper gear and layering will be in place
• Use of fire is permitted with safety protocols in place, which provides a means for warmth
• Warm beverages, food, and movement keep children warm
• Emergency plans and emergency shelter will be in place

Further, we believe that the drafted regulations are already designed to safeguard children and ensure that teachers are well prepared to monitor and address the children's needs in all kinds of weather. The draft regulations require:

• Wilderness First Aid & CPR of all teachers, which will equip them with even better skills to notice and address any potential weather-related concerns
• 36 clock hours of specific nature-based training that covers risk management, gear, supplies, and safety measures for all-weather learning

The problematic regulation 13A.14.15.08P states:

"Safe Operating Temperatures. The pilot program shall not operate on any day when the MSDE Child Care Weather Watch Chart posted on the MSDE website is:

(1) In the red zone for the Heat Index Chart; or
(2) In the yellow or red zone for the Wind-Chill Factor Chart."

*See "Child Care Weather Watch Chart".

We believe the regulation should instead be:

"Safe Operating Temperatures. The pilot program shall not operate on any day when the MSDE Child Care Weather Watch Chart posted on the MSDE website is:

(1) In the red zone for the Heat Index Chart; or
(2) In the yellow or red zone for the Wind-Chill Factor Chart."

Please note that Maryland's regulations are modeled in large part after Washington State's existing regulations that read:

“Conditions that pose a health or safety risk may include, but are not limited to:
(a) Heat in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or pursuant to advice of the local authority;
(b) Cold less than 20 degrees Fahrenheit, or pursuant to advice of the local authority;”

By requiring these programs to close and not have class on days the temperature is 30 degrees of below (for even part of the day), will result in several days of closure. This in turn greatly impacts students, families, and staff:

• Children that do not have regular access to their class environment are at the risk of learning loss and chronic absenteeism (acadmeic, social-emotional, physical development and skills; a sense of safety)
• Families who rely on these programs for regular child care so they can work will be forced to find alternative care AND may need to continue to pay for the outdoor program. This is both a financial and logistical burden many families cannot carry!
• Teachers that cannot guarantee that they will have regular work during the winter months will likely leave the field and look for employment elsewhere.

HOW TO TAKE ACTION

Send a letter to the Maryland State Board of Education by December 1st. The stakeholders group has created this letter template, which you can personalize and send. You may copy and paste it directly into an email or submit a more formal letter that is attached as a PDF. (Tip: Click "file" and "make a copy" to create and share your own letter. Be sure to click "file" and "download" to save as a PDF.) Send your letter to the Board of Education at: stateboard.msde@maryland.gov.

We are the first East Coast state to pass legislation for an outdoor preschool pilot and our regulations will affect other states. Please help us ensure the pilot's success! If you would like to learn more, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for your help and for submitting a letter requesting this change by December 1st! If you'd like to learn more, please contact Monica Wiedel-Lubinski, Executive Director of ANBE for details.

OUR WORK TO LICENSE OUTDOOR PRESCHOOLS IN MD

In January 2020 - prior to the pandemic - ERAFANS (now ANBE) Executive Director Monica Wiedel-Lubinski formed an Outdoor Preschool Licensing Advisory Team (OPLAT) and they got to work! They began conversations with MSDE officials, local organizations and schools, policy makers, elected officials, advocates, and other stakeholders began in earnest to establish allies and help inform the public of the need for the bill.  

In 2022, champion Delegate Michele Guyton (District 42B) proposed HB376 to establish an Outdoor Preschool Licensing Pilot Program in Maryland. The bill had seven co-sponsors and groundswell of community support including: the Maryland State Child Care Association, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, North American Association for Environmental Education, and the Maryland Association for Outdoor Environmental Education, just to name a few! The bill was also endorsed by Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. But the bill didn't get a vote. It never moved forward from the Ways and Means Committee.

For the rest of 2022 and into 2023, we continued to work with community members, early childhood advocates, public policy and lawmakers to inform them about the bill and the urgent need for it to pass. Members of the Outdoor Preschool Licensing Advisory Team continued to do the work of introducing lawmakers to the benefits of outdoor preschool. More OPLAT members hosted delegates and a lawmakers at their outdoor preschools. This provided an experiential learning session for lawmakers and gave insight into our goals. These visits were crucial to demonstrate how joyful and effective outdoor preschools can be. OPLAT members also continued to work closely with families, helping them understand why their advocacy matters, too.

On Feb. 1, 2023, Delegate Guyton introduced House Bill 525 to the Maryland House, this time with thirteen co-sponsors! We testified to the Ways and Means Committee on 2/10, then proceeded to negotiate amendments. On 3/2, the Early Childhood Subcommittee voted unanimously to pass the bill with amendments. The same afternoon, the Ways and Means Committee passed the bill and several more Delegates asked to join as co-sponsors! (Watch voting here.) It passed in the House on 3/9 with 26 co-sponsors!

On the Senate side, we testified for the Education, Energy, and the Environment Senate Committee on Wed., March 22. On Wed., March 29 the committee passed HB 525 unanimously with no additional amendments. After Senate review in the 2nd and 3rd reader, we learned Wed., April 5 that it passed in the Senate.

On Tues., May 16, Governor Moore signed HB525 into law, making it official! Maryland is the second in the nation to create a path towards licensing outdoor preschools. We did it!!!

You can rock your support of outdoor preschools with this gear! Proceeds from every purchase support on-going efforts to make outdoor preschool licensing a reality in Maryland. Visit www.bonfire.com/support-outdoor-preschool and get your gear.

OUTDOOR PRESCHOOL ADVOCACY IN YOUR STATE

We provided the following information to help garner support for our bill. If you are working on outdoor preschool licensing legislation, it may be helpful to you, too! We've kept this section in tact so you can see our approach:

Maybe you've heard about it but you're not quite sure what Outdoor Preschool Licensing is all about. Aren't nature preschools already able to be licensed?

Yes and no. There are many wonderful nature preschools that are fully licensed in Maryland - The Nature Preschool at Irvine Nature Center and the Forest Preschool and Child Care at Carrie Murray Nature Center may come to mind. They are able to be licensed because they have indoor classrooms and buildings. But outdoor preschools are NOT able to be licensed because their model operates entirely outdoors, with no indoor classroom or building used daily. In Maryland, outdoor preschools are licensed by the Maryland Department of Health as 'camp' during the summer, but there is no path to extend or continue the license to be recognized as a licensed outdoor preschool during the school year.

Outdoor Preschool Licensing is for programs that meet 100%, fully immersed in nature. These programs take place in a surprising range of settings such as parks, gardens, farms, beaches, and mountains. We can expand PRE-K and provide safe, equitable access to the benefits of nature-based learning and high quality child care by making outdoor preschools another option for Maryland families.

Read this Outdoor Preschool Licensing brochure to learn why it is vital for all children to have safe, inclusive access to outdoor preschool.

Fortunately, we don't have to reinvent the wheel! Our colleagues in Washington State enacted a bill to conduct a four-year Outdoor Preschool Licensing Pilot Program. This enabled experts in nature-based education to work closely with State officials to develop specific licensing guidelines for outdoor preschools - guidelines that are relevant to the work we do with children in fully outdoor settings. Following they pilot, they passed legislation in 2021 to officially license Outdoor Nature-Based Preschools in WA! 

WANT TO SUPPORT HB525? HERE'S HOW TO HELP!

1) Write a letter to your local delegates. 
Feel free to copy and modify this Letter Template for Delegates to send to your local lawmakers (look up MD lawmakers here). They are more likely to act when they hear from their own constituents! You can also share this webpage www.anbe.org/OPL-MD for detailed info or send our brochure about Outdoor Preschool Licensing in MD.

2) Write a Letter of Support for testimony. 
We can submit this with testimony for our hearing, which is a powerful show of demand in favor of the bill. Your letter can be from you, personally, as well as on behalf of your school/organization if you are authorized to do so. You can copy and modify this Letter of Support template and then email your letter(s) to Lisa Poe, co-chair of the Outdoor Preschool Licensing Advisory Team.

3) Ask Parents for Letters of Support. They love your school and want to support the growth of nature-based programs for ALL families! Contact families and ask them to write letters in support of HB525.  You can copy and paste this Parent Email template right in your weekly email correspondence. Feel free to share www.anbe.org/OPL-MD for detailed info or send our brochure about Outdoor Preschool Licensing in MD. This is a great way to demonstrate your leadership and show families that you whole-heartedly support equitable access to nature-based education.

4) Use social media to raise awareness about the bill.

Post to your networks and encourage others to reach out to their local lawmakers, too.

5) Stand with us. 
Join the Outdoor Preschool Licensing Advisory Team! Reach out to Monica Wiedel-Lubinski, co-chair, if you'd like to get involved!

Outdoor Preschool Licensing is an issue of equity, safety, and access to another high quality form of early childhood education. Our efforts will continue to ensure that outdoor preschools become another option for early learning.