A 49-year-old deal between a San Francisco church and the Montessori House of Children abruptly ended Thursday, when the First Unitarian Universalist Society evicted the preschool after bills went unpaid for almost a year.
The for-profit preschool “almost totally stopped paying rent, utilities, and property taxes” after a new lease took effect in July 2024, according to a statement on the church’s website.
The church allowed the school at Geary and Franklin to remain through June 30. A new school year started the following day, and the school requested one final stay of eviction from the court, which was denied.
The eviction was carried out at 5:30 p.m. Thursday by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, spokesperson Tara Moriarty confirmed. The timing was chosen so the building would be free of children and teachers.
Parents say they were kept in the dark about the legal wrangling and threat of eviction until they were told Thursday.
“They knew all this time and never said anything to us,” said Keren Ackerman, whose son attended the school for 18 months. “I’m an attorney, and from my perspective, it’s unbelievable that the school would do this.”
In November, the church sued the school for breach of contract, alleging failure to pay rent, utilities, and late fees, culminating in $80,500. The church was also awarded attorney’s fees.
Court documents show the church filed an unlawful detainer lawsuit against the school Jan. 24. On April 28, a San Francisco court ruled that the lease was terminated and that the school owed $190,000 in base rent.
“We are currently engaged in sensitive discussions aimed at achieving a peaceful and cooperative transition to new stewardship,” a school representative said in an email. “Out of respect for those ongoing discussions and the parties involved, we are not in a position to comment in detail at this time. We remain hopeful that a constructive outcome can be reached — one that ensures continuity of care for the children and preserves this important community institution.”
Anthony Thompson’s 3-year-old son started at the school at the beginning of 2024, where he enjoyed watering plants in the yard and reading with his teachers. After a recent parent-teacher conference, Thompson and his wife, Rachael Creager, were sure they had found the right place for their child. So when he got a call Wednesday night from a school representative saying it was closing, effective immediately, the news was “shocking to us.”
“It’s definitely a breach of trust,” Thompson told The Standard by phone, choking back tears. “Regardless of whether they come back, which it doesn’t sound like they are, we’re getting a different school.”
Thompson said the representative who called him Wednesday assured him that the school would be up and running again in a few days.
“While the church community regrets the impact that an eviction may have on the families whose children are enrolled at MHOC, this crisis is not of the church’s making,” the church said in its statement.
Ackerman and Thompson each said they have paid enrollment fees for July and have not been told whether they will be reimbursed. Enrollment can cost up to $3,325 a month, according to the school’s website.
Thompson has already begun a search for a new school. For two full-time working parents who also have an 18-month-old daughter to care for, the task feels daunting, he said.
Katie O’Malley works full-time and is a single mom and her son’s primary caregiver. She now has to handle the financial and emotional burden of finding last-minute child care.
“You can’t just get your kid into a camp in the middle of summer,” she said. “They have friends and teachers — school is your whole life when you’re a kid, and they’ve been there for more than half their life. … If I just listen to the word of the school, I would be under the impression that my kid is going back next week. It’s very stressful and also unclear what’s true.”