All this talk of renaming the Lawrence school district’s junior high schools reminded me of a relatively recent naming case that offers something of a cautionary tale.

Let’s go back to 1995. The district is searching for names for its soon-to-be-built high school, the one approved by voters for a site northeast of Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive.

School board members come up with own lists of suggested names, which then get compiled into a single list.

And one suggestions sticks out: Quantrill High School.

You know, Quantrill — as in William Clarke Quantrill, the guy who led a raid Aug. 21, 1863, that ended up burning down Lawrence and killing 150 residents.

Yikes.

The board had some better choices to consider. The winner: Free State High School.

We’ll see what comes up this time around. The naming committees are scheduled to be appointed Monday night, with their recommendations expected to be forwarded to the board sometime around spring break.

Here’s a prediction: Quantrill won’t make any of the lists.

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The Lawrence school district’s decision to cancel school Thursday because of snow won’t force students into any extra time in class.

Call it daylong recess.

The district already had two days scheduled into its calendar for “inclement weather,” and both of those days already are spoken for. The district already had canceled classes twice for inclement weather.

Now, with Wednesday’s cancellation being the third such day of the year, the district gets a free pass. That’s because the Kansas State Department of Education gives the district two additional days to cancel classes without having to make them up.

Thus, the Lawrence district can cancel classes one more time this academic year and not have to make up the time in class. Anything beyond that, and the district would need to start adding time onto schedules — likely by adding a few minutes onto the end of each school day through the end of the year.

That, of course, would be the opposite of recess.

•••

More candidates are filing to run for area school boards, but have no fear: There’s still time to get in the race.

The filing deadline is noon Tuesday at the Douglas County clerk’s office, 1100 Mass. The filing fee is $5.

Four seats are up for election on the Lawrence school board. Several other boards in the area also have spots up for grabs.

For more information, visit the clerk’s office website.

— The First Bell e-mailbox is always open: mfagan@ljworld.com.