Burbank Schools May Enroll Big Mac

Instead of “Mac Tonight,” Burbank students could soon be singing “Big Mac on Campus.”

The Burbank Board of Education is considering a plan to allow fast-food franchises such as McDonald’s or Jack-In-The-Box to open outlets on high school campuses.

Some school officials have expressed concern about security on the campuses at the district’s two high schools, Burbank and Burroughs, because students are allowed to come and go during the lunch period and other breaks.

If fast-food outlets were on the campuses, school officials said, it would be easier to confine students to the grounds and close the schools to outsiders.

The officials speculated that the availability of fast-food off campus and dissatisfaction with food on campus cause students to leave.

McDonald’s TV advertising features a “Mac Tonight” jingle, using the tune of the classic song “Mack the Knife.”

But the board is not eating up the idea yet. Board members declined to make a decision after hearing a report on the issue Thursday.

“I don’t know what I think of this,” board member Charles Goldwasser said.

“I don’t know what the community thinks. But I don’t feel the possibility of a fast-food franchise is an important enough issue to determine if we close campuses or not.”

“I believe more students would stay on campus if they could eat food that appealed to them,” board Vice President Vivian Kaufman said. “School food has always been unattractive to kids. It was when I was going to school.”

Asst. Supt. of Business Richard Tighe said federal and state regulations specifying that half the food items be nutritious by state education code standards would apply to fast-food franchises on campus.

Tighe said the district was required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to serve a variety of foods. The department recommends, for example, that the same type of food, such as ground beef, not be offered more than three times a week, he said.

Also, state Supt. of Education Bill Honig recently launched a “Healthy Kids, Healthy California” program that includes providing nutritious meals in school cafeterias, Tighe said, commenting that fast-food may not fit into that program.