D59 cancels meeting tonight on overcrowding at Frost Elementary

Due to the weather, Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59 has canceled tonight’s public forum to gather input on how to handle overcrowding at Robert Frost Elementary School in Mount Prospect.

People instead can attend two other forums scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, and Thursday, Jan. 19, in the Friendship Junior High School auditorium, 550 Elizabeth Lane, Des Plaines. Spanish and Polish translators will be provided.

District officials say the school’s overcrowding is caused by a gradual rise in enrollment over recent years. Enrollment at the school has grown from 398 students in the 2008-2009 academic year to about 480 students in 2011-2012.

Among the options the administration has developed to relieve overcrowding are: moving an entire grade level or multiple grades to another district elementary school; moving Frost students that are part of certain programs, such as English as a Second Language and bilingual education, to other schools; changing attendance boundaries; establishing a shared attendance area served by two or more schools; building an addition Frost; installing temporary modular classrooms; establishing grade level centers; and creating mobile classrooms for certain subjects.