The Connecticut Board of Education says Groton has a problem. Its schools lack racial diversity. Its neighborhood schools reflect the racial makeup of their location, not the diversity of the overall town.

In 2014, for example, Connecticut education officials pointed to the imbalance at Claude Chester Elementary School, which had a minority population of 68.2 percent at the time. The state considers a school out of balance if the percentage of minority students deviates by 25 percentage points from the district average in the same grades. Groton had an average minority-student population of about 43 percent, placing it fractionally out of balance.

The state cited other schools as having a pending imbalance, defined as a percentage deviation of 15 percentage points or more.

Coincidentally, Groton needed new or renovated schools in any event because they were outdated and in poor condition. It came up with the plan to build one new middle school and convert through renovation the two existing middle schools into elementary schools, in the process attracting students from a better cross-section of the town and encouraging enrollments more in line with Groton’s overall racial makeup.

Having mandated that Groton fix the problem, Connecticut should be a partner in paying for it, but it is offering no assurances that it will do so in a substantial manner, which in turn will make it difficult to gain voter support in November.

As things stand, Connecticut is promising nothing more than the standard 47 percent Groton would receive under a reimbursement formula having nothing to do with racial makeup. Under traditional reimbursement rates, Groton would get $88 million, leaving local taxpayers paying about $100 million of the estimated $188 million project, according to the latest numbers from Superintendent Michael Graner.

That is very different from the proposal presented by town officials to Department of Administrative Services Commissioner Melody A. Currey that would have had the state covering 70 percent of the cost, leaving the town’s share at $56 million.

Now that deal has dissolved. Currey said local officials made a presentation of their proposal, but did not follow up. Her office did not include the special funding for Groton in the school-construction package that state lawmakers will vote on during their special session this week.

Groton has valid arguments for deserving extra aid. It is trying to meet the state diversity standards. And it has the added challenge of educating the children of military families who rotate through the area, resulting in dramatic swings in school enrollment and student diversity. One week Chester Elementary School could be in violation of the state diversity standards, the next week in compliance.

Under any circumstances, gaining increased funding from the state for any project would have proved difficult this year given the grim fiscal problems confronting Connecticut. However, the political realities did not help.

Groton has two freshmen Republican representatives — John Scott and Aundre Bumgardner — in a House of Representatives with a Democratic majority and with a Democratic governor. By all accounts, Scott has worked hard on the issue. But working hard and working effectively are two different matters.

The lone Democrat from the Groton delegation, state Sen. Andrew Maynard of Stonington, is a lame duck and not fully engaged in the wake of health issues tied to a brain injury he suffered in a July 2014 fall.

Could more political hand-holding and arm twisting have changed the outcome? Perhaps the answer is no, but the possibility was not adequately tested.

Groton may yet get more state help. Construction tied to schools with a 25 percent racial imbalance qualifies for a reimbursement rate of 80 percent. But at last count Chester, unlike 2014, is at 24.8 percent, and so not eligible for the extra funding.

By October, a couple of weeks before the vote, Graner said the town will know if Chester qualifies for the 80 percent reimbursement. Given enrollment trends, Graner said he expects it will. If that happens, the state would cover $111 million of project costs, leaving $77 million for taxpayers.

That is still a large number. Another problem is all these shifting numbers and arcane measures for diversity will continue to shake voter confidence about any promised level of reimbursement.

Graner said the town can abandon the plan, even after voter approval, if the state does not make the expected commitment. That too will be of little comfort to town voters.

Meanwhile, Groton schools continue to deteriorate. The town is losing an increasing number of students to magnet schools in other districts and it has to pay part of their tuition.

This situation has dogged Groton for years and things are not exactly looking up for resolving it anytime soon.