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.