Legislator wants preschool checks

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. -- Rep. Mary Kay Budak has a major complaint about state laws regulating preschools in Indiana: There are none.\n"If I want to open up Little Miss Muffet Preschool, I'm free to go ahead. There is nothing to stop me," said the Republican from LaPorte, Ind.\nPreschools are exempt from laws covering day-care centers as long as the facility keeps children for less than four hours a day. There are no background checks, no safety inspections, and they are not required to register their location with the state.\nBudak and Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, have each filed bills requiring state licensing of preschools.\nMrvan's bill would require a yearly certification and licensing for preschools, similar to that required for day-care centers.\nDay-care centers with six or more children must be licensed by the state Family and Social Services Agency.\nThey must undergo a Health Department inspection and a certificate from the state fire marshal and are subject to state inspection by the social services agency.\nThe agency supports the concept of licensing, but estimates it would require more inspectors and added expense at a time when the state faces an $850 million deficit.\n"We would require additional resources," Amy Kruzan, legislative liaison for the state agency, told the Post-Tribune of Merrillville for a story Monday.