Preschool naptime expectations are developmentally inappropriate

In our preschool, starting in the 2-year-old class, naptime is from 12:30-2:45. There are two teachers in each classroom and naptime is when we give each other our lunch breaks. So the first teacher would go on break from 12:30-1:30, and the next 1:30-2:30. When the teacher is by themself while the other is on lunch, the kids have to stay on their cots or else the class would be considered out of ratio and we could get cited by licensing.

The expectation our director always tells parents and teachers is that, "They don't have to sleep but they do have to stay in their cot and rest." I think it's unfair to expect children as young as 2 to be able to stay on their cot for two hours. I've worked in the 2s, 3s, and 4s classroom and naptime is always the hardest part of the day. That one hour can honestly feel like the longest hour of my life 🫠 Whenever there would be kids that are energetic and loud during naptime, the admin would see it as a failure of the teacher to manage the class. They would give suggestions like quiet activities or books. But obviously each child is different and some kids simply want to move around.

I've worked with a teacher that would always take first lunch and get frustrated with me if there's one or two kids that are still up, even though she knows they are not nappers. She would then try to make the parents guilty and tell them, "Your son/daughter woke up half of the class during naptime today."

I think the expectations for teachers and kids during naptime just sets us up for failure. We would sometimes get lucky and have a group that all naps, but teachers know that even just one student that doesn't nap and does not like to stay on their cot can make a huge difference. In an ideal setting, there would be extra staff and a classroom where kids can go if they do not nap. But I know most preschools would not want to spend extra money for that, even though it would be more developmentally appropriate for the kids.

EDIT: To everyone giving suggestions about quiet activities, books, setting a calm environment etc this post is not about that. That works great for some kids but this post is more for the kids that don't like to stay in their cot no matter what activity is given to them and no matter how much playtime they got before nap, they deserve the option of getting up and not being forced and reprimanded to stay in their cot just because of the ratio.

I agree that children should be given the chance to rest for at least 30 minutes. If they can't sleep, quiet activities or books. And if they refuse to stay in their cot, they should have the option to get up. In my experience, most kids sleep during nap time. In the 6 years I've worked at this preschool, I can think of 5 kids that had a very difficult time during nap. It's unfair to expect that all non nappers would be content with staying in their cot with books and activities for 2 hours.