District 59 parents support school addition to fix overcrowding

As district officials search for solutions to overcrowding at Robert Frost Elementary School in Mount Prospect, parents made their opinion clear — make the school bigger.

More than 150 parents from Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59 came to public meetings Tuesday and Thursday to discuss eight options the school district outlined to alleviate crowded classrooms. A majority supported building an additional four classrooms, a renovation that could cost between $1.6 million and $1.8 million, said Superintendent Daniel Schweers.

“My opinion is that the best option is the permanent addition,” said parent Monica Wojtowicz. “While this requires significant capital spending, I believe it is a great investment in our school district and in the future of our children.”

A cheaper, temporary option would be to house students in modular classrooms, which could cost up to $370,000 and could create problems such as students traveling outside of the school to get to and from these classrooms for the bathroom, lunch and other parts of the day.

“Temporary buildings are just what they are, temporary,” said Cathy Schiro, parent and PTO president. “Our children deserve better than putting them in a tin box.”

Schiro read a statement supporting a permanent addition, which was met with applause from the entire room.

The overcrowding problem surprised school district officials as enrollment at Robert Frost grew from 360 in 2006 to more than 470 in 2011-2012.

“This is a little bit of a head scratcher,” Schweers said. “There’s been no new construction or new subdivisions built.”

Schweers said one possibility for the increased student population could be that with the economy some families may be doubling up in apartments, but that the numbers have far exceeded the district’s projections.

Other options presented included moving some students or an entire grade to another school, changing the Frost attendance area boundaries, establish grade level centers or putting pertain subjects such as fine arts on rolling carts to free up classroom space.

Many parents were unhappy with the temporary options and parents from other schools in the district expressed concerns that moving students from one school to another will just move the problem rather than solve it.

Any possible cost to alleviate the overcrowding, including building an addition to the school, would be funded through the district’s working cash reserve fund, which Schweers said is at about $20 million.

The school board will meet to discuss the public forums, parent surveys and different options at its next meeting Monday, Jan. 23 and will make a final decision at its next meeting February 13.

“I’m glad people came out, we wanted to hear what they had to say and we want to do what’s best for the students,” said Janice Krinsky, school board member.