(Update: Courtney Burnett with City Schools of Decatur sent over a short recap of the Nov. 12 meeting. I’ve published it beneath this article.)

I wasn’t able to attend the City Schools of Decatur school board meeting on Tuesday, but I got reports from residents of the Lenox Place neighborhood who did attend.

The moms and dads in Lenox Place have organized against the K-3 Zoning Committee’s recommendation that their children should attend Westchester Elementary when it reopens in 2014. The Lenox Place kids currently attend Oakhurst Elementary.

The school board discussed the top three map options at the Nov. 12 meeting, but won’t take any action on the maps until December at the earliest.

Full disclosure: I don’t have kids, but I do live in an area that will be affected by these changes.

The parents told me that more than 20 representatives attended the school board meeting. I asked the Lenox Place Facebook group how the meeting went. 

“Based on (the school board’s) comments, they are understanding and sympathetic to our position,” Amanda Medori Hallauer replied.”But it is far from over. Another public meeting on Dec. 3, then the Board wants to have its own work session before they vote.”

Jeremy Davis, another Lenox Place resident, added, “I think the number of us that turned up and spoke made an impression.”

The Lenox Place residents are particularly concerned with the amount of time it will take to walk to Westchester. Parents said rezoning their children to Westchester would increase the walk to school from three-tenths to seven-tenths of a mile to 1.2 – 1.8 miles.

This morning Courtney Burnett, spokeswoman for CSD, sent over this recap of the Nov. 12 meeting:

“The Board heard a presentation (can be found on eBOARD) and tabled (as planned) the K-3 Zone Committee’s recommendation until the December board meeting.  They encouraged community members to attend the December 3rd Community Meeting to provide public comment.  The only new thing that came out last night is that the Board will have a worksession on December 4th after the next community meeting to discuss this further.”

Thanks to Courtney for that.

I appreciate the Lenox Place residents being my eyes and ears on this. Managing a news website in my spare time isn’t easy, but I’m glad there are thoughtful and engaged parents keeping me in the loop.