RANKIN SETS DRUG TESTING CRITERIA

Officials Hope Random Testing In Various Activities Will Cut Down On Drug Use

Dusty Acy, a senior on the power-lifting team at McLaurin High
School, can bench press 330 pounds.

Tyler Sanders, a ninth-grader at Northwest Rankin High, is more
comfortable lifting pawns and queens as an award-winning chess player.

Sanders and Acy might not have much in common, but both will be
subject to random drug testing under a Rankin County School District
policy starting this fall.

The Rankin County School Board on Wednesday approved a broad list of
extracurricular activities for students to be randomly tested.

Assistant Superintendent Hugh Carr said the list includes some
activities that are not overseen by the Mississippi High School
Activities Association, including the district's program for gifted
students and an environmental club. Carr said the list was compiled
to include as many students as possible.

"We want to do everything we can to protect students from drugs,"
Carr said. "This will not only be a deterrent but will give students
another reason to say 'no' to drugs."

Superintendent Lynn Weathersby said the district adopted the policy
to be proactive about "reversing the trend of drug use in our schools."

District officials who crafted the policy, which was adopted in May,
said it will be one of the most aggressive in the state. Rankin
County joins at least eight districts statewide with such a policy.

About 4,000 of the district's more than 16,000 students will be
tested next school year under the program, at a cost of about $150,000.

Carr said the district will seek federal funding for the program once
it is in place. He said the district will partner with the Pearl
School District and a Jackson-based nonprofit called Developing
Resources for Education in America in seeking funding.

Testing will begin in August, Carr said.

The district, the third-largest in the state, reported 37 incidents
of drug possession during the 2003-2004 school year, according to
data from the state Department of Education.

Sanders, 14, believes the policy is a good idea and doesn't mind being tested.

"There's a lot of kids who do drugs, and maybe this will cut down on
some of that," Sanders said.

Acy, 16, who also plays center on the football team, said he doesn't
mind being in the testing pool because he already has been tested for
his job at Rick's Pro Truck in Flowood.

Acy worries the testing could snag other members of his team, though.

"If it's a star player that messes up, that could really affect the
team," Acy said. "But they shouldn't be doing that anyway."

Testing policy

This is how the Rankin County School District's drug- and
alcohol-testing policy will work:

Students in extracurricular activities in grades 7 through 12 will be
subject to random drug testing.

The district can test activity students and other students under
"reasonable suspicion." Policy allows voluntary testing for students
whose parents want them to be part of the testing pool.

A first offense will carry a mandatory 28-day removal from the
extracurricular activity. The student will receive counseling and
have to pass another drug test to be reinstated.

A second positive test will result in placement at the alternative
school for one semester.

If the student is reinstated and tests positive in another random
test, the student will be placed in the alternative school for one semester.