We’re sure William Schneider, Panama mayor, has many of the same concerns as the Panama residents he represents when it comes to the proposed fate of the Panama school building as a study of a possible merger of the Panama, Clymer and Sherman school districts begins.

But we appreciate Schneider’s comments on the issue during the most recent Panama Village Board meeting. Panama and Clymer have been down this road before, and Schneider’s comments encouraging public participation in the merger study process are words we hope residents of all three communities take to heart.

“Again, the bottom line is we have to have community participation and everybody’s voice that wants to be heard needs to be presented,” Schneider said.

It’s human nature to want answers quickly, especially these days when answers to most questions are at our fingertips at any hour of the day. But that’s not how questions about the future of the Clymer, Sherman and Panama school districts are going to be answered. Answers about the future of things like individual school buildings, school programs, staff or taxes are a long way off. The best thing for any resident of Clymer, Sherman or Panama to do is to be engaged in the process as it takes place rather than waiting until the end.

The first in a series of community meetings on the school merger study took place last week. It was only the first in dozens of meetings that will take place over the coming weeks and months. To their credit the school districts are posting video of the meeting on each of their websites for the public to review as the process unfolds. Last week’s meeting took place at 5 p.m. – an improvement from meetings that sometimes took place as early as 3 p.m. the last time Clymer and Panama discussed a potential merger. We still think more needs to be done to make it easier for the public to attend, whether that’s holding some meetings at varying times of the evening to accommodate different schedules or taking meetings into places like community fire halls or other gatherings like shared sporting events.

We appreciate Schneider’s attempt to encourage public participation in the merger meetings. One way concerns can be addressed is by getting them in front of the merger study groups as early as possible so they can be worked on throughout the process rather than dumping a bevy of complaints at the end of the process.

As we eye a potential marriage of three school districts, we’ve reached the point where the community needs to speak now or potentially forever hold its peace.