Students walk out over pest problems

Clarkstown, N.Y. -- Hundreds of Clarkstown, N.Y., high school students have walked out of their classes to protest of their school's pest problems.

The Clarkstown North High School students said during the walkout Wednesday that rats, maggots, roaches and flies are common sights inside the school building, The Journal News, of White Plains, N.Y., reported Thursday.

The students gathered on the campus sports fields, chanting slogans including "save our school, roaches must go" and "no more rats."

Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan said after the walkout that exterminators check the school three times a week for roaches and other pests. She said the Rockland Health Department declared the school clear of maggots and rats.

"There is a lot of misinformation out there ... and a lot of time the information is sensationalized and exaggerated," she told a news conference. "For now we don't have a rat and maggot problem."

Principal Harry Leonardatos said every student participating in the protest would get a zero for the class they missed, an unexcused absence and a letter in their file that may be seen by colleges.

© 2007 United Press International.