Commissioners make exception for Grant in closing celebration

Grant School can go ahead and shoot off fireworks to celebrate the end of its 40-year educational run, Douglas County commissioners decided Wednesday night.

But they also sought assurances from county administrators that the May 24 fireworks display would be the exception and not the rule.

“Are we opening up a can of worms in any sense at all?” asked Commissioner Charles Jones, concerned that the decision might set a disturbing precedent. “I don’t want fireworks at the opening of a strip mall.”

Don’t worry, Commissioner Bob Johnson said. The commission’s decision applies only to the closing of the elementary school  and let that be a lesson to any other prospective out-of-season pyrotechnicians.

“We’ve set a high standard,” he said. “This doesn’t happen very often. This is clearly an exception.”

Fireworks normally are permitted in the county only during July 2, 3 and 4, said Keith Dabney, the county’s director of zoning and codes. To make an exception, commissioners must declare that a fireworks display would serve the “public interest.”

They found such an occasion in the Grant Four Decades Celebration, set for the last day of school at 1853 E. 1600 Road. The event is scheduled to begin with a sixth-grade graduation ceremony, then continue with an open house, potluck supper and live music before Marvin Pine’s fireworks display after dark.

Event planning started once members of the Lawrence school board, in October, cited declining enrollment in their decision to close the school. This year it has 42 students and three teachers.

Grant opened in 1962 after Bismarck, Burnett and White schools were consolidated.

In other action Wednesday, commissioners:

 Approved the retirement of Baloo, a Douglas County Sheriff’s drug-detection and suspect-apprehension dog. Commissioners transferred ownership of the canine to its longtime handler, Cpl. Gayland Guinn.

 Agreed to move ahead with plans for a real-estate tax foreclosure sale in Douglas County District Court.

 Approved the purchase of a tractor and mower.

 Appointed Chuck Wright, Lecompton, to the Douglas County Advocacy Council on Aging.