Students now attending Einstein Junior High School in San Diego can be forgiven next fall if they feel like ordering a Quarter Pounder for lunch or if they get the urge to stretch during the seventh period of the school day.
Acting on a committee recommendation and a poll of students, the board of education voted last week to rename their school in honor of Ray Kroc, the late founder of the McDonald’s hamburger chain3and owner of the San Diego Padres baseball club.
In the student poll, conducted at seven elementary schools and two junior high schools, Mr. Kroc was a clear winner over four other worthies whose names were submitted to students by the board’s committee for school names. Mr. Kroc piled up 42 percent of the vote, compared with 33 percent for the former astronaut Neil Armstrong; 11 percent each for Sally Ride, the first Ameri-can woman in space; and Norris Charles, a former prisoner of war, and only 3 percent for Clair Burgener, a long-time San Diego state legislator.
Albert Einstein’s name did not appear on the ballot.
According to Norma Trost, information-services specialist for the district, the board has a policy of re-naming schools when it changes them to enroll students who previously attended other schools. Starting next fall, Einstein Junior High School will serve as a middle school for 7th and 8th graders, with half of its 8th-grade students drawn from another school that is being closed.
Ms. Trost said the school names committee felt it was appropriate to honor Mr. Kroc for “his interest in the community and what he has done for the community,” and for the charitable work of the foundation that bears his name.
The board apparently agreed, voting 4-1 in favor of the name change, although according to Ms. Trost, the one dissenter “felt that the educational contributions made by Albert Einstein were more important than the contributions made by Ray Kroc.”
