A southeast Atlanta elementary school is dealing with some unwanted guests: Rats.
In a letter to parents, Thomasville Heights Elementary School Principal Charles Penn said an exterminator has been hired to deal with the rodents.
"This letter is to inform you of a persistent issue we have been dealing with involving rodents that have been observed on occasion in and around our school and campus," Penn wrote in the letter, obtained by Channel 2 Action News.
The rats may be living underneath the building's foundation, according to a spokesman for Atlanta Public Schools.
"They (exterminators) are also carefully inspecting all areas for any rodent signs every morning in order to identify potential areas for placement of the baited traps," Penn said.
One parent, Sherrilyn Cullins, said she has seen a rat in a classroom while dropping her daughter off at school.
"Mostly they are in the kindergarten area, but they are all over the school," Cullins said. "The rats are so big they look like the size of a rabbit."
There are several species of rats in the Atlanta area, but the most common two are the Norway rat and roof rat, according to Urban Wildlife Control, an Atlanta-based pest company.
People that come in contact with infected rats or their droppings can contract a respiratory disease called Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome or HPS, which can be fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But there has never been a confirmed case of HPS in Georgia.
The school is located on Henry Thomas Drive, off McDonough Boulevard.
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