The Hawaii State Department of Education is giving parents an opportunity to turn the tables and grade their child’s public school.

Last week, HIDOE began its annual School Quality Survey (SQS) to collect important feedback from students, parents/guardians and staff about our public schools.

The deadline to complete and return the SQS is March 17; all responses will remain anonymous.

This survey provides information on how schools are doing with respect to school culture, satisfaction, safety and engagement.

Feedback will be used to support school planning and improvement efforts, as well as meet legislative and Board of Education requirements.

Students in grades 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11 will take the survey online at school, as will teachers, administrative office staff and instructional support staff.

A parent or guardian of the students in the surveyed grades will have the option to take the survey online or via a paper format. Each school communicates to parents on how to complete the SQS.

A brief video outlining the SQS can be viewed at vimeo.com/201216058. Once the poll is done, parents can view the SQS for their school through the Report Finder on HIDOE’s website. Search for “School Quality Survey” and add the name of a school for the results.

Parents should take time to provide input on the performance of their child’s school.

In recent years, response to the survey has been similar to election participation: terrible.

“We hope to get more responses from parents this year, as last year’s return rate was only 25 percent,” said Tammi Chun, assistant superintendent, Office of Strategy, Innovation and Performance.

“This feedback goes towards improving our schools and the learning experiences of our children, and we ask parents to take the time and submit their opinions.”