LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — Pastor Robert Roper runs the Lehigh Acres Christian School. He moved the school to Lee Boulevard Baptist Church in August, because they needed more space, and that's when the problems began for the school.
"It makes me feel said," Pastor Robert Roper said about the school potentially closing.
Here's the issue. On November 1, the Lee County Department of Health inspected the Lee Boulevard Baptist Church building that the school is renting.
It found two problems.
Watch Lehigh Acres Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades report below:
The building is on well water. It needs to be on a public water system. The building's sewage disposal is not approved for the anticipated use.
The DOH issued this 'unsatisfactory' in a report, that FOX 4 has looked at.
The exact same day, the Department of Education sent the school a letter, which gave the school 30 days to fix any problems the DOH found.
Roper said, "There's never been a time we ask for an exemption, a work around or anything like that. We've always wanted to comply 100 percent, but they cannot give us the time to comply."
He added that what the government is demanding; apply for the correct permits and then switch to a public water system, within the span of a month, isn't a fair timeline.
"This is like rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic," Roper said.
On November 11, he said the DOH hand delivered a cease and desist letter that says to 'immediately' stop using the septic system which would effectively shut the school down.
Rick Stevens a pastor with the Florida Citizens Alliance is helping Pastor Roper.
"Everybody agrees that we want to help the kids be safe, and everybody agrees no child has been harmed. So, why can't we come to a reasonable resolution and move forward?," Rick Stevens said.
FOX 4's Ella Rhoades contacted both the DOH and DOE several times, but they did not respond to her.
Pastor Roper chose to keep the school open because he said the water has been tested, and there are no problems with it.
Since all of this started, 20 students and some staff left the school.
Roper said he can't hire more teachers because he can't guarantee the job will be there, one or two weeks from now.
"This is torture for our school..because we have 15 staff and 120 students that love our school that's why," he said.
Roper wants more time to fix the issue, but he said the agencies haven't clearly communicated if he'll get the time.
