Clymer, Sherman and Panama residents won’t necessarily be watching for results of their school budget votes next week.

We would expect each of the three schools’ proposed budgets to be approved when district residents go to the polls Tuesday. Everyone will be watching, though, to see how district voters in the three districts answer a survey question that will be included on the ballot: “Due to ongoing challenges such as declining student enrollment, rising operational costs, and the desire to expand extracurricular opportunities, would you support the Boards of Education of the Clymer, Panama, and Sherman School Districts to initiate a formal feasibility study to explore the potential benefits and impacts of combining?”

There is already a lot of sharing between the three rural districts, a sign that all three face many of the same issues: population decline, difficulty offering extra-curricular activities on their own and increasing pressure on their yearly budgets to offer the type of education that prepares students for college or the workforce.

We’ve known for some time that many of our rural districts are likely going to have to consider mergers or consolidations. It happened with Mayville and Chautauqua decades ago. Ripley then made the decision more recently to tuition its high school students to Chautauqua Lake. And, we’ve seen proposed mergers go all the way to community votes only to see one community decide it wasn’t the right time to merge.

The survey on Tuesday’s ballots makes no commitments. It’s purely a gauge of community sentiment. but it’s an important first step. Updates to the state’s reorganization incentive formula offer more financial support to districts that make the decision to consolidate. Not only would it make the transition easier, it could lead to better programs and financial sustainability of a possible merged district. It’s a heck of a carrot for each community to consider.

We’ve been talking around the question of a Clymer, Panama and Sherman merger for years now, but this is the first real step the communities have been asked to take in several years. At this point the best thing Sherman, Clymer and Panama residents can do is be engaged and have an open mind. Listen to what the school board members are saying – and, board members need to do the same. Too often, when we enter these sorts of discussions, people with opposing views talk past each other and, in the process, derail positive momentum that can help students and taxpayers.

Tuesday is just a first step – but it’s an important step nonetheless.