Principal James Marsh got a surprise when a bear leapt from a rubbish dumpster he was standing next to at Zela Elementary School, West Virginia.
Both ran away, with the bear scuttling off into a wooded area.
In a Facebook post, the Nicholas County Board of Education wrote: “Who says principals don’t deserve hazard pay????”
The principal told local broadcaster WSAZ: “It let out a pretty loud roar… I think both of us were equally surprised.”
“The students at the school, they wanted to see it and I showed it to all of them – they thought it was just hilarious.”