All preschools in Albert Lea will not be providing transportation this fall, but other options are available and are being explored.

Transportation will still be provided for special education preschool students, but all other students must have additional forms of transportation this year.

On June 11, Albert Lea Area School District officials had a meeting with local preschools to discuss transportation, according to United Preschool teacher Annie Olson. During the meeting, Olson said United Preschool and other preschools discovered they would not be able to provide transportation for early education students as in years past.

In the past, Olson said parents could pay Albert Lea Bus Co. directly, but that option is not available this year. For United Preschool, Olson said the staff is looking into applying for grants or doing fundraisers to work with Albert Lea Bus Co. She also said they are looking into working with Southern Minnesota Area Rural Transit.

For the early education programs at Brookside Education Center, day care services will be provided before and after preschool to allow parents to drop their children off before work and pick them up after, according to Jenny Hanson, Early Childhood and Community Education coordinator.

Hanson said this day care — which is called wraparound child care — isn’t the only option early childhood education is pursuing. She said they are also talking with SMART transit, though she doesn’t believe that partnership will happen before the fall. This is why other options are being offered, she said.

The change came after Lori Volz, director of finance and operations and deputy superintendent, clarified with the Minnesota Department of Education about regulation on special education transport routes. Volz said this clarification triggered some changes going forward into the 2015-16 school year.

Hanson said early childhood education programs are required by law to provide transportation for free for preschoolers with special education needs. This law does not exist for non-special education students, she said.

While parents still had to pay $40 per month in the past for their preschooler to ride the bus along with special education students, the school needs to guarantee there will be space on the bus for special education preschoolers who join throughout the school year, Hanson said.

“That’s the main reason why we look to offer some other options for parents,” Hanson said.

Hanson said the district is waiting to hear back from the state on how much money they were given from the increased funding from school readiness. The amount of money given could potentially drastically change what Brookside Education Center can offer, she said. Those numbers could possibly come in by the end of July, according to Hanson.

A contact at Albert Lea Bus Co. would only comment that United Preschool was looking into grants for transportation. Olson said Albert Lea Bus Co. was willing to work with United Preschool again this year as they have in the past, but she said the school would need more financial help.

“Throughout our continuous meetings we have come up with some other brainstorms for families to look into but so far using SMART looks to be our best option for the time being,” Olson said.