(The Center Square) − Some Louisiana private preschools say “Charlie’s Law,” a child-safety measure passed last year, is saddling them with steep new costs that could force tuition hikes, strain staffing and threaten the future of their pre-K programs.
In written comments submitted to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, executives from 11 private Catholic preschools said the law’s licensing and compliance requirements are costing their schools hundreds of thousands of dollars and imposing what they describe as burdensome, unnecessary regulations.
The complaints center on Act 409 of the 2025 regular session, known as “Charlie’s Law,” which took effect Aug. 1, 2025. The law was passed after a high-profile Jefferson Parish case involving alleged abuse in a nonpublic pre-K setting and was designed to tighten child-safety rules and close gaps in how abuse allegations are handled in school and preschool settings.
In practical terms, the law requires nonpublic prekindergarten programs to be licensed as early learning centers and subjects pre-K programs to new child safety and welfare minimum standards. Those standards include stricter staffing ratios, continuous supervision requirements and new reporting rules for alleged abuse.
The law’s rollout has been especially significant for private and faith-based providers. State guidance says nonpublic schools serving 3- and 4-year-olds generally must apply for licensure, while public school pre-K programs must follow the safety standards but are not subject to the same licensure requirement.
That unequal structure has fueled much of the backlash.
According to the comments summarized by the Louisiana Department of Education, one commenter said the financial demands tied to Bulletin 137 – the state’s early learning center licensing regulations – were preventing her from raising wages for staff. Another comment argued that “Act 409’s mandates are often redundant or counterproductive when applied to existing school-based, tier 1 curriculum-based early childhood programs with strong academic and safety foundations.”
Two other principals wrote that “it simply isn’t financially responsible for us to run these programs while facing such high compliance costs, as it would require charging much higher tuition rates just to keep up.”
The schools are asking state officials to delay implementation and consider changes to the law.
The law was passed in 2025 after a parent claimed his child was sexually assaulted by another child and that the state had no means of investigating because of a regulatory loophole. Charlie’s Law was meant to address that loophole.
