"Vote No Merger" signs were scattered through the yard of Clymer/Panama Superintendent Bert Lictus at some point early Saturday. Lictus asks that the community remain civil during merger talks between both schools.

Bert Lictus, superintendent of Clymer and Panama school districts, woke up to a surprise Saturday morning when he and his wife found about 25 “Vote No Merger” signs in their yard.

Panama and Clymer schools are currently studying a potential merger between the two districts. A straw vote to see if both communities want to merge will be held Nov. 13.

Lictus said he was concerned upon seeing that his property was vandalized. Lictus said several these signs can be seen around town.

“I don’t want to make too much of (the incident) but it would be concerning if this stuff continues,” Lictus said.

He said this act doesn’t represent the entire merger process and noted that differing opinions are fine and that’s why people are allowed to vote. The shared superintendent said he wasn’t able to determine who put the signs on his yard, whether it was students or adults.

“Kids learn from the adults,” Lictus said. “I think we need to take a deep breath and listen to each other and then exercise our right to vote.”

While Lictus was the one who proposed the merger study, he said this type of behavior isn’t warranted and doesn’t want to see it happen to anyone else.

“I’m confident that this is the end of it but hey, we’ll see,” Lictus said.

Members of Learning Design Associates, the agency who conducted the merger study between the school districts, held their final meeting on Oct. 17 where they formally recommended the merger.

It was at that meeting that Lictus asked both communities that were gathered inside the Clymer Student Performance Center to remain civil.

“I talked about being civil and showing respect to other points of view,” Lictus said. “I’m asking people to maintain their civility and be respectful of all points of view. We all live in the same town,(the students) are all our children, we all believe that we want what’s best for kids.”