What Are the Requirements to Be a Daycare Teacher in Kansas?

The Kansas Office of Early Childhood (KOEC) has run child care licensing since July 1, 2026, when the function moved from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) under 2025 House Bill 2045, and existing licensing staff moved with it.

KOEC says all existing child care licensing policies remain in effect during the transition, and the governing rules are still K.A.R. 28-4, the child care regulations whose center and preschool sections run from 28-4-420 to 28-4-441 and were last broadly amended effective August 2, 2024.

Kansas licenses centers and preschools under these rules, so the qualifications below cover preschool teaching staff as well as center staff.

Every classroom unit in a Kansas center or preschool must have a lead teacher who is at least 18 years old, holds a high school diploma, and meets one of five education or experience options: an associate degree or higher in early childhood education or a related field, an ECE technical certificate, the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, at least 3 semester hours of credit combined with 3 months of experience, or 6 months of experience providing direct care and supervision to children of the same age range they will serve.

The experience route means a would-be lead teacher can qualify without any college credit, and the CDA is one of several accepted credentials rather than a mandate.

Read each job listing for any credential or experience a specific center asks for beyond the state minimum.

Kansas sets the entry bar for assistant teachers at age 16.

Since 2025, House Bill 2045 has barred program directors from imposing educational requirements on assistant teachers, so a program director cannot add a diploma or coursework condition on top of the state minimum for this role.

The other staffing rules still reach assistants: orientation is due from each staff member and volunteer within 7 calendar days, and the health and safety training requirement attaches to staff members counted in the staff-child ratio.

Two tracks land in a new Kansas teacher's first month.

Orientation is due within 7 calendar days of starting and before you have sole responsibility for children, and it covers licensing rules, center policies, emergency procedures, discipline, supervision, allergies, health and safety, and confidentiality.

Separately, staff members counted in the staff-child ratio complete state-approved health and safety training either before employment or within 30 calendar days of hire, on topics that include recognizing child abuse and neglect and abusive head trauma, child development, safe sleep and SIDS risk reduction, illness and immunizations, allergies, premises safety, emergency preparedness, hazardous materials, transportation safety and medication administration.

Staff members and volunteers counted in the staff-child ratio complete 16 clock-hours of professional development training in each licensure year, and 4 of those hours must be in health and safety topics.

The requirement sits in K.A.R. 28-4-428a, the same regulation that sets orientation and the pre-hire training tracks.

That 16 clock-hour figure is the regulation text as amended effective August 2, 2024.

A 2026 proposal would reduce the annual total to 10 clock-hours, and our research could not confirm whether it has been adopted, so confirm the current annual figure with KOEC.

Staff members counted in the staff-child ratio need current pediatric first aid and pediatric CPR certification, including a hands-on component, within 30 days of hire.

Kansas also requires each unit to keep at least one staff member or volunteer counted in the staff-child ratio, with current pediatric first aid and pediatric CPR certification, present at all times.

The state-approved health and safety training carries the wider health topics, including safe sleep and SIDS risk reduction, abusive head trauma, illness and immunizations, allergies and medication administration.

Our research did not confirm a separate pre-employment health examination requirement for Kansas center teaching staff; ask your center and KOEC what health documentation applies to the role you are hired for.

Kansas comprehensive background checks for center roles require fingerprints, and the roles they cover include teaching staff, the program director, substitutes and owners.

KOEC resumed charging $48 per comprehensive fingerprint background check as of January 1, 2026, after the federal funds that had covered the fee expired, and the agency pages we read list supervised volunteers as not currently charged.

Ask the center director what you need to submit and confirm the current fee with KOEC.

Lead teachers in an infant unit must complete 4 hours of professional development training in an infant-specific subject within 30 days of hire.

Staff members who care for infants must also devote 4 of their annual professional development hours to infant topics, so the infant specialization continues past the first month.

The pre-hire health and safety training already includes safe sleep and SIDS risk reduction and abusive head trauma, topics especially relevant in infant rooms.

Kansas has Cape, the statewide professional development and workforce registry launched in January 2025 and implemented and managed by Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities (KCCTO).

Cape hosts professionals' profiles and Individual Professional Development Plans, and a complete Cape profile is required for KCCTO scholarships.

The staffing rules we read do not name the registry as a licensing condition, but Kansas teachers pursuing KCCTO financial support have a concrete reason to keep a complete profile as they log their training hours.

Kansas child care licensing is in transition. 2025 House Bill 2045 moved licensing from KDHE to the new Kansas Office of Early Childhood effective July 1, 2026, and the state published proposed amendments in 2026 that would cut the annual training requirement from 16 to 10 clock-hours and eliminate licensing fees.

Our research could not confirm whether those amendments have been adopted.

The training figures on this page come from the regulation text as amended effective August 2, 2024, so confirm the proposal's status, the current annual training figure and any new fee schedule with KOEC before you rely on them.