CLINTON, BATMAN, OPRAH MAKE LIST OF NOMINEES NAMES NEEDED FOR 3 NEW PALMDALE SCHOOLS.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO

Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- It could be the school district where Harold meets Batman while enjoying a Desert Breeze.

Or where Abraham Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey and Ronald Reagan all come together in the name of education.

The Palmdale School District is considering names for three brand-new schools, and submissions from the public have ranged from the adulatory to the whimsical to ... well, desert land features.

More than 450 names were suggested, including that of the Caped Crusader and Harold, which is a historic name for Palmdale.

Elected officials including Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made the list, along with Betsy Ross and Albert Einstein.

Also nominated were late former school principals David Millen and Fred Strasburg.

United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez had the most submissions with 182, followed by Martin Luther King Jr., who had 32, and President Reagan with 16.

Last week a citizens' advisory committee met and whittled down the list to the top 20, which will be forwarded to the school board for consideration.

The 20 include King, President Clinton, Winfrey, Reagan, Lincoln, Chimbole (after former Palmdale Mayor Larry Chimbole), and of course Harold.

Landscape and wildlife names that made the cut were Antelope Valley, Desert Breeze, Dry Gulch, Desert Oasis, Desert Hill, Desert Sky, Mountain View, Desert Hope, Oasis, West Hills, Desert Mesa and Blackbird.

Sadly, Batman wasn't in the top 20, but Freedom was.

"The list of recommendations will be submitted to the school board at an upcoming meeting," Deputy Superintendent Lori Ordway-Peck said.

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