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AVIS -- A local daycare's Pre-K Counts program may not move forward for the 2026-2027 school year.
According to All Things Bright and Beautiful, located in Avis, it has been faced with paying thousands of dollars in increased transportation costs from a previous school year which it says it was not made aware of until grant funding had already been allocated.
The daycare currently partners with the Jersey Shore Area School District. According to Superintendent Dr. Brian Ulmer, the district exists as a "pass through" for state grant funding for the program.
The issue at hand is roughly $30,000 from increased transportation costs for the 2023-2024 academic year.
According to Angela Johnson, director of All Things Bright and Beautiful, the cost increased that year after the district's contracted transportation company, Windecker Enterprises, doubled its runs to accommodate both of the Pre-K counts programs operating within the district -- All Things Bright and Your Guardian Angel.
Ulmer said the district wasn't aware of an increase in transportation costs until the bill for the 2023-2024 school year arrived in late 2024.
Johnson and All Things Bright's board of directors contend the district would be responsible for the oversight.
"They were the ones responsible for budgeting how much transportation would cost, contracting transportation through Windecker Enterprises, receiving invoices, approving invoices and paying invoices. All Things Bright & Beautiful had nothing to do with the transportation budget at all," Johnson said in a letter addressed to JSASD's board of directors.
According to information presented by All Things Bright and Beautiful, the transportation cost for that year increased from $59,292 to $90,432 with $60,000 previously allocated in grant funding to cover the costs.
However, Ulmer's assessment of the situation differs from All Things Bright.
"This is not a district program. This is not district transportation. I cannot rightfully use district taxpayer dollars to transport PreK students to another provider. The district is involved as the pass-through entity for the funds," Ulmer told The Express.
Ulmer further stated the district made the director of Pre-K program aware of the overage "within weeks" of the issue being recognized.
Since the increased cost was discovered, both Ulmer and Johnson said meetings have been held regarding payment of the costs.
Johnson noted she was not made aware of the increase until September 2024, after grant funding for the 2023-2024 school year had already been budgeted and spent.
"The PreK Counts fiscal year ends on June 30 and all funds for the school year must be spent or returned to the state. Therefore, there were no 2023-2024 PreK Counts funds left to make up for this overage," the letter to the school board stated. "Since each year's PreK Counts funds must be used on that year's program, we are not able to use future PreK Counts funds to pay the school district for their coverage."
Ulmer told The Express the district offered a payment plan to pay the $30,000 overtime.
"The district has had multiple meetings with the PreK provider since March of 2026, and they were offered a payment plan over time in collaboration with the board of directors of the school district," he said.
If the daycare did not agree to the payment plan, Ulmer said the district would discontinue its agreement with All Things Bright.
"In April of 2026, the PreK was informed by me that failure to agree to repayment through an agreed payment plan would mean that they would not be renewed for 26/27," he said. "In June, both parties were in conversation about payment plan amounts and length."
The letter sent to the board of directors noted it would not pay the district for the overage.
"Since the 2023-2024 fiscal year was over prior to All Things Bright & Beautiful being notified, the funds were spent. The only other funds available to All Things Bright & Beautiful are tuition payments from parents of children who attend All Things Bright & Beautiful and are not associated with PreK Counts," the letter stated.
The letter further notes the daycare and school district have been working together for the Pre-K Counts program since 2008.
"We have provided an excellent Pre-K education to over 270 children entering the Jersey Shore elementary schools," it continued.
The letter further noted that if the program were to discontinue for 2026-2027, two teachers and 18 children and their families would be affected.
"These teachers are going to have to scramble to find jobs to support their families when they expect to return to the Pre-K Counts classroom they have devoted the last 18 years of their professional career to. The families of the nine children planning to return to our Pre-K Counts classroom from last and the nine new enrollees are going to have to scramble to find care when they also expected to be in the PreK Counts classroom at All Things Bright & Beautiful beginning Monday, Aug. 24," the letter stated.
In an email to The Express, Johnson said the daycare's advisory board carefully considered its decision to not enter into the payment plan with the district.
"The Advisory Board of All Things Bright & Beautiful Day Care has thought long and hard about this decision and unfortunately does not feel it is their responsibility to pay this money to the school district when it was not their fault nor could they have prevented this from happening," the letter stated. "They also don't feel that it is fair to use tuition funds paid by parents whose children were not associated with and did not benefit from the PreK Count program."
Ulmer acknowledged the board received the letter recently.
"Subsequent to that letter, I informed All Things Bright and Beautiful Director, Angela Johnson, that as stated in April the district would not continue to work with them," Ulmer said. "They are welcome to run a PreK program but will not be receiving grant funds from the district to do that."