Pubdate: Fri, 15 Apr 2005
Source: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (MS)
Copyright: 2005 Journal Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.djournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/823
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

RANKIN SCHOOL DISTRICT MOVING AHEAD WITH AGGRESSIVE DRUG POLICY

JACKSON (AP) - The Rankin County School Board has approved a preliminary 
drug-testing plan for the county schools, joining the Pearl Municipal 
Separate School District.

"We want to do everything we can to reverse the trend of drug use in our 
schools," Superintendent Lynn Weathersby said Wednesday.

Pearl operates a school system separate from the county.

The county and Pearl policies will randomly test students who participate 
in extracurricular activities, seventh through 12th grades. In addition, 
the county's plan calls for students in those grades to be subject to 
testing if a school official has "reasonable suspicion."

The county system, the third-largest in Mississippi with more than 16,000 
students, reported 37 incidents of drug possession during the 2003-04 
school year, according to state Department of Education data.

At least eight other districts in the state have approved such a drug policy.

Changes can be made to Rankin's policy before final approval at the board's 
May 11 meeting.

Justin Hallett, a district employee who helped craft the policy, said it 
will be one of the most stringent in the state after looking at similar 
policies in the Tupelo, Pearl, Petal and North Pike School districts. 
Hallett said the district has been working on the policy for the past few 
months.

The district is expected to test about 4,000 students next school year at a 
cost of about $150,000, Hallett said.

Weathersby said the district will seek federal grants from the Office for 
Safe and Drug-free Schools to help defray the costs.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom