Residents of Kootenai County, you’re invited to be part of the process to measure the performance of public schools.

The federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires every state to implement an accountability system for schools by the 2017-2018 school year.

The State Board of Education has been traveling around Idaho, seeking public comment.

Blake Youde, chief communications and legislative affairs officer for the SBE, said the main goals for the system is to inform policy makers and educators on what’s working and what needs improvement, as well as share with the public how schools are performing.

Youde said the SBE wants to get community input about what should be on the evaluation.

“We’re required to have public comment on it, but we think this is important enough to travel across the state to seek citizens to comment, instead of them having to seek us out,” he told The Press. “It has to be [a system] they think is the right kind of review that’s looking at the right kind of factors.”

Coeur d’Alene is the sixth stop out of seven.

The forum, open to the public, will take place at the Coeur d’Alene School District Midtown Meeting Room on Tuesday, from 6 to 8 p.m.

The address is 1505 N. 5th St. in Coeur d’Alene.

“Input so far has been really good and thoughtful,” Youde said. “We’ve heard from parents, teachers, superintendents, business owners ... there’s something in this for everyone.”

The last time Idaho had an accountability system was 2014. The five-star rating system was repealed when Idaho started using a new testing system.

The new accountability system will have a variety of ways to measure academic and school quality. Some of the suggested areas of evaluation are standardized test scores, graduation rates, percent of students that go on to get post-secondary certifications, college and career readiness and overall school environment.

The new system would break schools into three levels — kindergarten through eighth-grade schools, high schools and alternative high schools.

Lakeland School District Superintendent Becky Meyer said her district is all for an accountability program. She said it’s a good way to assure taxpayers that their money is being used well.

“I’m in favor of a growth model instead of one high-stake test,” she said. “I like the idea of looking into multiple accountability factors. I think the emphasis needs to be on individual student growth.”

Meyer said when the accountability system is put in place, the way the district and schools conduct business will remain the same, but the way they report that business will be different.

Jerry Keane, superintendent for the Post Falls School District, said not much would change for his schools when the accountability system is put in place.

“I think it’s a vast improvement to the previous one,” he said. “It seems to be helping the districts that need help as opposed to a punitive system. It feels to me we’re in more of a partnership with the state.”

The Coeur d’Alene School District’s board chair, Casey Morrisroe, said he’s looking forward to the new system so he can identify what areas within the district need the most attention. He added it’s important for the public to “get a snapshot” of what’s going on in local schools and districts.

“It seems to be addressing some of the concerns of the old system. Maybe this will be a little more accurate of a reflection of what’s happening in the buildings,” he said. “As a board member, I want to make sure we’re growing and students are improving over time. This will help us evaluate that.”