Fireworks at School Get Tentative OK

The Las Virgenes Unified School District Board of Trustees gave tentative approval for a Fourth of July fireworks display at Calabasas High School.

But it withheld final approval until the city, the event’s potential sponsor, provides a detailed report on how the show will be handled.

“We need to feel a little more secure about just how the campus would be taken care of,” school board member Barbara Bowman-Fagelson said Wednesday. “This is school property and we need to make sure that it’s not destroyed.”

Many of the concerns of the board, expressed at a meeting Tuesday, mirrored those of Pierce College officials when they decided last year to pull out as host of a long-standing West Valley Independence Day tradition.

The board said it wants to limit attendance to about 2,200 people and prohibit alcohol consumption and smoking on campus. Also, it asked the city to find ways to keep property damage down and implement traffic control measures.

Calabasas Mayor James Bozajian said the district’s conditions would not hinder planning the event, which has already created excitement in the community.

“There is no real big display in the area,” he said. “We’re hoping our residents can have this.”

He said the city would now determine whether it will accept the $20,000 estimated costs associated with the event and put on a safe show.

The city’s parks and recreation department has been working with officials from the Sheriff’s Department and the county fire department to plan the fireworks display, which would be held in conjunction with existing city-sponsored events elsewhere.

The issue will be reviewed by the City Council at its meeting Wednesday and by the school board on May 12.