Mill Valley language immersion preschool faces possible eviction over rent dispute

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- A Chinese language immersion preschool is fighting to stay open in Marin County, despite being served with an eviction notice. The Mill Valley School District owns the building and says the preschool needs to find a new home due to unpaid rent.

Mandarin is the only language spoken at Terra Marin Preschool in Mill Valley, a full immersion language program for little kids. Harlie Li has been teaching there for about a year.

"I think this is such a valuable program for the kids around this area. We need Chinese learning," Li said.

But Terra Marin is now facing an uncertain future after being served an eviction notice by its landlord, the Mill Valley School District.

"When I first heard about the shocking news, I was stressed, feeling upset. We love our kids here," Li said.

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The school district says the preschool school owes back rent for June, July and August.

"The lease has been broken, we welcome the city or anyone with space to donate to them to continue to run this school," said Mill Valley School Board President Sharon Nakatani.

"They are choosing to break the lease for their school use," said Wendy Xa.

Xa is the preschool's director. She says Terra has 10 years left on its lease, but the district is breaking the lease early because it needs the space for administrative offices. Xa says she never stopped paying rent.

"I just paid for the space that I'm using, hoping they would consider that as rent, and they cashed it," Xa said.

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Parents spoke at a recent school board meeting, blasting officials for evicting the preschool.

"It's really easy to talk about community and diversity, but you need to live it. To harm a lot of people, you're the ones breaching the agreement. It's unfair," said one parent.

"I hope the district works in good faith with us to let us keep the space. That's really all we want. We want continuity for our kids," said parent Emily.

Directors say enrollment has dropped over news of a possible eviction but Xa is determined to find a solution to stay open.

"I want things to work out. I would love to talk to the district and figure this out," Xa said.

School district officials had no comment on the matter.