Neighbours have 'problem' with Mark Zuckerberg, they claim he's running illegal school

Mark Zuckerberg ’s neighbours in the Crescent Park neighbourhood of Palo Alto, California, are going through a long-standing dispute with the Facebook founder. His neighbours have raised concerns with the city council, alleging that a school was operating without a permit in the residential compound belonging to the Meta CEO , his wife, Priscilla Chan, and their three kids. Operating a school would be illegal under the area’s residential zoning code without proper authorisation. According to a report by Wired, documents obtained through a public record request suggest the school may have been operating as early as 2021 without the required permit from the Palo Alto Department of Planning and Development Services. Zuckerberg ’s neighbours' observations indicated that as many as 30 students may have been enrolled. However, the neighbourhood’s campaign to shut down the alleged school continued until the summer of 2025.

As per the report, the Zuckerberg compound has expanded to include 11 previously separate properties. For almost a decade, neighbours have been communicating with the city council to complain about several issues related to the property, including noisy construction work, the presence of private security, and the traffic and street parking issues caused by staff and business associates. The neighbourhood’s concern about the property's expansion began as early as 2016, driven by fears that the purchases were affecting the local real estate market, the report adds.



What Mark Zuckerberg’s neighbours said about the alleged school in his compound


The school, called Bicken Ben School (BBS), allegedly operated from 2021 until mid-2025 without the required conditional use permit for a residential zone. According to California Department of Education records, BBS officially opened on October 5, 2022, and grew from nine students to 14 students aged 5 to 10 between 2022 and 2025. However, neighbours estimated observing 15 to 30 students and a June 2025 job listing indicated enrollment of 35-40 students with plans for middle school expansion.

Sara Berge, listed as head of school in state documents, claimed on LinkedIn that she oversaw 25 children at a "Montessori pod" at a "private family office," though she did not respond to requests for comment. Zuckerberg’s neighbours filed multiple complaints through 311 between 2019 and 2023, alleging illegal operations and increased traffic.

“We find it quite remarkable that you are working so hard to meet the needs of a single billionaire family while keeping the rest of the neighbourhood in the dark," one neighbour wrote to city officials in February 2025.

In December 2024, Palo Alto Director of Planning and Development Services Jonathan Lait told the Zuckerbergs' lawyer, Christine Wade, that the school lacked required permits. In March 2025, city authorities ordered the school to close by June 30. Zuckerberg family spokesperson Brian Baker told WIRED the school relocated rather than closed, though the new location remains unclear.

Palo Alto spokesperson Meghan Horrigan-Taylor stated the city “enforces zoning, building, and life safety rules consistently, without regard to who owns a property" and denied claims of preferential treatment. Meanwhile, Wade explored obtaining a state daycare license but never applied, Baker and California's public registry noted.