Ricky Schroder -- Yanks Daughter From School After Cancer Outbreak

Ricky Schroder has such fears his daughter's Malibu school causes cancer ... he's yanked her out, and we're told other high-profile parents have similar concerns.

Ricky tells TMZ ... the facts are scary -- 3 teachers at Malibu Middle School have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the last 6 months. Seven other teachers have experienced severe migraines and others say they have skin rashes, hair loss and other ailments.

Ricky says the buzz around the school is that soil around the school is contaminated with PCBs, lead and pesticides. Teachers also think the classrooms might be contaminated with mold.

Parents are now demanding tests for various contaminants, including radioactivity, asbestos and Ricky tells us ... he's physically removed his daughter from the school "as an abundance of caution" ... until it's determined it's safe for her to return. Until then, she's taking classes at home via independent study ... and about 25% of the students in her class are doing the same thing.

As for Ricky ... he says until he knows it's safe for his daughter to return to classes, she'll be homeschooled.

School officials are conducting more testing this week. According to a statement, preliminary tests showed "no unusual findings" for mold contamination ... and any mold found so far should not pose a health problem.