A 30-year tradition of shooting off fireworks at Pace High School home football games may end this season.
The Santa Rosa County District Schools will no longer allow fireworks or pyrotechnics on district property. The policy went into effect Aug. 1 and applies to all school events, booster clubs and outside groups using district facilities.
However, there is still a chance the Pace High Patriots tradition may continue – just not on the school district property.
Steve House-Gregory, who has put on the fireworks show for the past five years for the high school’s Quarterback Club, has asked the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners for permission to use county-owned land and a holding pond near the Pace Library to continue the fireworks display.
“All safety protocols and necessary permits for fireworks will be fully complied with, and we will work in coordination with local fire departments and law enforcement to ensure public safety and minimal disruption to the surrounding area,” House-Gregory wrote in the letter to the County Commission.
The commissioners meet Monday for a workshop with the regular meeting set for Thursday.
House-Gregory is unsure if he’ll receive an answer before the Patriot’s first home game on Aug. 29 against Pensacola Catholic High. The football team also has a K.O. Classic scheduled for Aug. 14. But if the request is approved Thursday, House-Gregory said he will be at the Thursday night jamboree.
Approval does look promising for the fireworks show. Santa Rosa County Administrator Brad Baker has already briefed board members about the request.
“They seemed fine with it,” Baker said, noting that House-Gregory, who also owns The Cutting Board restaurant, is licensed and insured. “… It’s not like we’re letting the booster club out there.”
Baker added he doesn’t believe there will be opposition to allowing the business owner to use the holding pond, and the request could be officially approved Thursday.
In his letter, House-Gregory said he would provide Santa Rosa County with a full schedule of the planned dates and times, proof of insurance and verification that all necessary licensing and professional handlers are in place. He is also seeking a request to hold fireworks during Pace High’s STEAM night activities − set for later in the school year.
On Aug. 7, House-Gregory asked the Santa Rosa School Board to reconsider the decision at its monthly meeting, but said he learned Aug. 8 the policy will stay in place.
“We received a call from Mrs. (Alexandra) Timmons this morning that they are not going to lift the ban,” House-Gregory said Friday, referring to the school district’s director of risk management.
In a written statement, the school district said the decision was made in coordination with local fire officials and is based on National Fire Protection Association codes, state legislation, Florida School Board Insurance Trust liability concerns, and the lack of proper safety setbacks on school campuses.
At the school board meeting, Timmons said the recommendation to change the policy was not made in haste and was an objective one regarding risk and liability exposure.
“In evaluating the risk, the use of pyrotechnics exposes the school board, in terms of liability, if an injury results from an incident. In the past, the use of fireworks at school events has not had stringent oversight within our district,” she said.
“Our Florida School Boards Insurance Trust is to prohibit (fireworks). They are not an exclusion, but their recommendation is to prohibit them. There’s great exposure to injury and we would assume a lot of that liability. Our member districts in the trust do not allow fireworks and as a member of that insurance pool, we have a responsibility to mitigate the risks within our district because any claims that come to us, obviously, are part of that entire claims factor when they are looking for reinsurance.”
Timmons said even if a vendor provides appropriate liability insurance coverage and lists the school district as an additional insurant and certificate holder, Santa Rosa School District could still be a named party in litigation.
Several others, including the former Pace High School football coach Kent Smith, asked the board to reconsider the fireworks ban.
“Every school in Santa Rosa County has their tradition in football games. Milton has the panther that lights up and growls. Navarre has a cannon that goes off like it’s from a pirate ship. Gulf Breeze has the sound of a dolphin and the Patriots have fireworks,” said Smith, who recently retired.
“I want you to think about the many hours the football team has put in to take that field on a Friday night five or six times a year. Many of them dreaming of taking that field since they were in elementary school with the fireworks going off in the sky.”
The fireworks show is sponsored by Pace High’s supporting organizations including the Quarterback Club, who pays $4,000 to $5,000 for the fireworks each year.
House-Gregory said he has put on fireworks shows for other high schools including Navarre and Jay during home football games.
“Last fall, we did fireworks for Central High School’s homecoming and Milton had inquired about adding fireworks to two home football games this season,” he said.
“The point that we’ve tried to drive home is that the fireworks are electronically detonated, which adds an additional level of safety by not using live fire. And over the past five years, there have been no incidences and I don’t know of any since Pace High started fireworks.”
House-Gregory said he also does the town of Jay fireworks and is in negotiations with the town of Flomaton, Alabama, for it July 4 show.
Smith added he believes allowing fireworks is in the best interest of Pace High students.
“Most of you know last year we had a successful year in football. We were 10-2, made it to the second round of the playoffs,” Smith said. “But what you may not know is that the Pace football team was recognized as academic state champions. We had the highest average GPA in the whole state of Florida,” Smith said.
“Pace was just named an A school for the first time in a quite a few years. Those 175 football players probably had a little bit to do with Pace becoming an A school. So I do believe extracurricular activities do have an effect in high school on the school grade and academic performance.”