SACO — The Saco School Department is appealing the city’s order to move Pre-Kindergarten operations out of a building at 5 Willey Road, and in the meantime has a one-year alternate solution for the program.

The School Department signed a 10-year lease that began on July 1 for a former day care building on 5 Willey Road to house its newly expanded Pre-K program.

The city sent a letter to Cheryl Carrier, the owner of the Toddle Inn group of day care facilities and the building at 5 Willey Road, on June 19 stating that the intended use of the Pre-K School was not allowed at 5 Willey Road, as the building is located in the Spring Hill business park where the covenant prohibits public schools. In the letter, the city gave the building owner 30 days to “work out an agreement with the Saco schools to terminate their lease, and to use the premises going forward for any permitted use.”

The city, not hearing back from Carrier, sent a letter to the School Department on July 19 giving school officials 10 days to vacate the Willey Road property. City officials said since Pre-K was not a permissible use for this site, the city could not grant a certificate of occupancy.

Last week, the School Department announced it had secured a one-year lease with First Parish Congregational Church UCC for three classrooms and an additional room for the Pre-K program, and Pre-K classes would also be held in two classrooms at the city’s community center at 75 Franklin St. and two classrooms at Young School at 75 Tasker St.

In a letter to parents earlier this month, Superintendent of Schools Dominic DePatsy said the School Department was appealing the city’s decision to not give the schools a certificate of occupancy for 5 Willey Road

At Monday night’s City Council meeting, City Administrator Kevin Sutherland said that the City Council will hear the School Board’s appeal on Sept. 16.

“The chapter in the code does not provide any information on how the process of an appeal should be handled, but our past practice in this type of situation, an administrative appeal, is to allow for both parties to see and respond to the information gathered before it is provided to the council,” said Sutherland.

The documentation from the School Board was submitted on Aug. 1 and the city gave a written response on Monday, said Sutherland. The School Board has until end of day on Tuesday, Sept. 3 to respond. Any further response from the city will be provided by Sept. 6.

The full packet of information will be given to City Council on Sept. 9 to give them a week to review the information, said Sutherland.

Sutherland said he will work with an attorney to develop a procedure for the meeting and assist the mayor in handling the appeal.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be reached at 780-9015 or by email at egotthelf@journaltribune.com.