School moves to expel raccoon family

LAKE WORTH, Fla., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Health officials say a Lake Worth, Fla., school has less than 30 days to rid itself of raccoons that have taken up residence in the ceiling.

Students say the raccoons have been there for weeks and parents at Woodlands Middle School say they're upset they weren't told about it sooner, WPEC-TV in West Palm Beach reported Tuesday.

"Nothing. No phone calls, no letters came home. Nothing, not a word," one Lake Worth mother told WPEC.

Palm Beach County Health Department inspectors confirmed the infestation, saying their latest visit was Thursday, when inspectors saw the raccoons.

The school has 30 days to get rid of the animals. Inspectors will return March 9.

Students and parents said a raccoon even urinated on a student.

"You're sitting at your desk, doing your class work and all of a sudden there's liquid running from the ceiling," the mother told WPEC.

"Something wet started dripping down on his backpack, then eventually on him," a student said.

School officials said the infestation was confined to a "small portion of the school building" and didn't affect a large number of students, so no mass notification was made.