Lakeland School District business manager Tom Taggart, head of the Idaho Association of School Business Officials, told JFAC that district workers feel the new longitudinal data system and its problems is an “emergency” situation. “We think the entire process should be slowed down,” he said. “We think that a big step forward would be the leadership of the state department standing up saying, 'This has not gone as well as we hoped, it's got serious problems, we could've done a better job at the start.' I think that acknowledgement gives us comfort we're going to fix it.”

He said, “I think when it's done and it's fully implemented and it works well, we will love it, and we're willing to help get there. But overwhelmingly, the people in the districts are frustrated and they're upset and they're looking for help.”

---

---