CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A north Charlotte preschool is fighting to open its doors after it claim the city forced it to close due to a mandate.
Little Angels Preschool has been educating kids in the Queen City for years. Victoria Bracey has two kids who have experienced the school.
"This is a great school," Bracey told WCNC Charlotte.
For Bracey, it's more than a school. It's a beacon of hope.
"The education, the tools, everything, as far as the learning, the reading, the math, they push our children," she added.
Now that beacon is in jeopardy after Charlotte Fire did a routine inspection.
“They came out July 10, and they said, 'Oh, we can't do your re-inspection; You need to do a change of occupancy use from business to education,'” the founder and director for Little Angels Preschool Marlaina Williford recalled.
With Little Angels being listed as a business, the fire department issued an order to vacate. WCNC Charlotte asked Charlotte Fire about its claims.
"We were also under the impression that she was operating a tutoring, which is a few hours a day," Fire Marshall Kevin Miller said. "It's not a drop off. It's not a day care."
The Fire Marshal said the preschool was given several warnings and detailed the difference in this case between a business and education establishment.
“We have different qualifications that they have to meet," Miller explained. "Education facility? You have to have a fire alarm. Business at business occupancy. You don't have to certain ones. But educational is you have to have one, you have to have a certain amount of exits. You have to have exit directly out into the public. It can't be into a hallway. So, that's totally different from a business occupancy."
The most important measure on its end, he said, is safety.
"We're not in the business of shutting businesses down," Miller said. "That is counterproductive to what we're here for. We're here to make sure that the businesses that are operating operating safely and in a safe manner.”
Williford claimed the preschool has started the process to change the use of building to education. It’s unclear if it will be able to use the same location moving forward.
Contact Myles Harris at mharris5@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.