A feasibility study between the Clymer, Sherman and Panama school districts to look into the possibility of merging the three districts into one is officially moving forward.

The idea of the possibility of a Clymer, Sherman and Panama merger has been thrown around for years, including back in 2017 when there was a failed community vote for only the Clymer and Panama districts to merge. The three districts have merged in other areas such as the successful CSP Wolfpack football, track and other sports teams, and more recently sharing more academic roles such as a transportation supervisor and Clymer and Sherman currently share a food service director.

The survey given to all three districts’ communities Tuesday as a part of their annual school budget vote looked for an answer to the question of if the three districts should take the next step towards the merger possibly becoming a reality. The survey question highlighted specific ongoing challenges such as declining student enrollment, rising operational costs, and the desire to expand extracurricular opportunities. The results of those surveys were announced Thursday night via an official statement released on all three schools’ Facebook pages.

The statement notes that the Boards of Education for the three schools conducted a community survey on Tuesday to gather input on the possibility of pursuing a feasibility study regarding the potential merger of the three districts.

“More than 630 voters participated in the survey, with 73% expressing support for conducting a feasibility study,” the statement reads. “The CSP Boards of Education will review these results carefully as they consider next steps in the process.”

The statement also says that the districts remain committed to working together in order to share resources and improve efficiency, and to ensure the most effective use of taxpayer dollars while providing high-quality educational opportunities for all of their students.

From each separate district the results came in with 221 yes and 49 no votes from Clymer, 144 yes votes and 41 nos from Sherman, and 102 yes votes and 57 no votes and 25 undecideds from Panama, for a total of 467 yes votes and 147 no votes between the three, along with 25 undecided votes.

The Boards of Education from Clymer, Sherman, and Panama will meet over the summer to review the survey results and determine the next steps. They will continue to share updates as more information becomes available.