Upset parents have come to City Hall in the last month, prompted by a series of issues – low test scores, students transferring to other districts, a lack of new blood in the superintendent’s office, an overall image problem – and they have asked Lakewood’s municipal government to do something about it.

At the heart of their criticism is the Clover Park School District, where only 30 percent of 10th-graders met the standard on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning math test last year.

The extent that Lakewood has gone along with these parents speaks to the city’s commitment to children. It gives 1 percent of its annual general revenues to agencies that help youths.

The city is also an official partner with Lakewood’s Promise, an organization that coordinates more than 200 community leaders and agencies providing care for young people.

Lakewood has been named one of the 100 best communities for young people by America’s Promise Alliance three consecutive years.

Mayor Doug Richardson said all the city wants to do is meet with Clover Park officials to define their roles and work toward better communication.

But City Councilman Pad Finnigan, who has publicly criticized the school district from time to time, wasn’t as diplomatic recently when he spoke about Lakewood’s previous attempts to help schools.

“Our relationship with the school district is pretty tenuous,” he said at last week’s City Council meeting. “We both have the interest of improving the city as a whole, but when we’ve met with the school district, quite frankly, they’ve been very defensive about any involvement of the city on their turf.”

Clover Park’s newly hired superintendent, Debbie Lebeau, said the district wants to have a good relationship with the city. She confirmed that Lakewood and the School Board are working on setting up a joint meeting.

As far as school leaders being defensive, Lebeau said, “Honestly, you get defensive when you have people from other businesses trying to tell you what to do.

“What we need to have is an opportunity to say, ‘We’ve really worked hard on our improvement,’” she said. “‘Here’s what we’re planning. How can you help us?’”

The latest back-and-forth began with the Clover Park School Board’s decision to hire Lebeau for superintendent in May.

At the May 12 School Board meeting, about two dozen parents and teachers picketed, ripping the selection process and the board’s decision not to hire an out-of-state candidate.

The School Board approved a two-year contract for LeBeau that same night. The longtime Washington educator has worked for Clover Park since 1996 in various administrative positions, including deputy superintendent the past year.

She was chosen after a national search generated a pool of 14 applicants, which the board narrowed to five semifinalists.

Some of the same parents who picketed spoke at the Lakewood City Council meeting June 2, asking city leaders to help their cause.

One parent said she planned to pull her kids out of Clover Park so they could attend school in University Place.

A student questioned whether the Advanced Placement classes she was taking in the district truly prepared her for college.

Last week, the City Council discussed how it could help improve the district and address residents’ concerns. Again, frustrated parents talked about the need for the city to hold the school district accountable.

“The problems are so endemic, to me, something more dramatic has to happen,” school advocate Clint Johnson said. “And that’s where I can’t get my hands around what the City Council should be doing, but the City Council should be doing something.”

The parents’ requests raise the question of what role, if any, a city should play in trying to turn around schools that are run by a separately elected board of directors.

The extreme cases are cities that have seized control of local education systems. About a dozen of the 75 largest school districts in the U.S., including Boston, Chicago and New York, are under the watch of mayors, according to a 2007 report in USA Today.

In Lakewood, City Councilman Don Anderson chalked the problem up to a lack of communication and the district’s unwillingness to admit where it needs help.

He suggested the city hire an outside consultant to help turn around the district.

“I think it’s about time the city looks for something dramatic and public to do to try and enhance the education of students,” Anderson said.

Lebeau said it’s not a matter of the school district ignoring its deficiencies. Officials must balance celebrating its accomplishments and boosting morale with solving its problems.

She said Clover Park is working on a school improvement plan required under federal law.

The district is one of 30 in Washington that the federal government has ordered must improve academic achievement districtwide. The others in the South Sound are Bethel, Tacoma and North Thurston.

Clover Park also has formed a list of priorities, including student achievement and conduct, community engagement and communication, and a strategy on how to address them. Lebeau said she hopes to unveil the plan by the end of July.

As far as relations with the city, she insists there is no turf battle.

“Our School Board is very motivated,” she said. “We want a partnership.”

Brent Champaco: 253-597-8653