Groton — Town and school leaders say the state has put Groton at a competitive disadvantage by approving magnet schools in New London and placing a statewide moratorium on them elsewhere.

The number of Groton students leaving to attend magnet schools elsewhere increased about 7 percent this year, from 378 to 406 students.

Losing students to another district costs Groton because the sending district pays tuition to the receiving one and must cover the cost of any special education services the students need.  Superintendent of Schools Michael Graner said the town will spend nearly $2.7 million on magnet school tuition, special education services and transportation for students attending schools outside the district.

“We have plenty of parents who are sending their children to other schools and, ultimately, that really hurts us,” he said. Groton can’t save money by cutting staff even though more than 400 children have left because the departures are spread across all 10 of Groton’s public schools and sprinkled among grades and classrooms.

In New London, school officials are meanwhile grappling with the potential loss of millions in state education funding even as they promote the district’s all-magnet schools plan.

New London Superintendent of Schools Manuel J. Rivera and members of the local legislative delegation said the losses could be crippling, considering that the district is both developing construction plans for several new schools and recruiting out-of-district students to its newly established magnet programs.

But Groton officials said they have their own issue with New London's ability to pull students from other districts while they are prevented from doing so.

Groton Town Councilor Joe de la Cruz said taxpayers in Groton are struggling to deal with aging schools also. Groton may have to put a new roof on Claude Chester Elementary School, even though that school would be closed under the town’s proposed school construction plan.

“That’s going to be our ad: ‘Come to Groton. We have a new roof,’” de la Cruz said during a recent joint meeting of the council and Board of Education.

Town Councilor Gregory Grim asked, “Is there any legal action we can take with the state for putting us at a competitive disadvantage?”

The three most popular magnet schools for Groton students this year are Winthrop STEM Elementary Magnet School in New London, which enrolls 91 Groton children; the Regional Multicultural Magnet School — also in New London but separate from the city's public schools — which enrolls 79 Groton students; and the Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut in Groton, which enrolls 67 students from Groton. The Regional Multicultural Magnet and the Marine Science High School are both part of LEARN, the regional education center.

Tuition for Winthrop is $3,000 per student; tuition for the Regional Multicultural Magnet is $2,841 per student; and for the Marine Science Magnet School, $5,834 per student. Groton must also pay additional fees for special education services for the students.

Groton’s tuition bill for regular classroom enrollments in magnet schools this year is $1,387,888. Tuition and services for special education students attending magnet schools is $1,265,690, for a total of $2,653,578 for magnet students.

The departure of students doesn’t allow Groton to combine classes and save on staff because the departures are sprinkled among grades and classes, data show. At Claude Chester, for example, 58 students were spread among the grades for an average of three student per class. As a result, class size falls from 25 to 22 children or 20 to 17 children, depending on the grade, resulting in smaller classes, but not quite small enough to combine, Graner said.

Similarly, 114 students from Fitch High School opting for magnet schools were divided among four grades, or about 28 students per grade, spread among 22 classes.

Board of Education Chairwoman Kim Watson told town councilors that Groton is working to make the district more competitive despite the moratorium on inter-district magnet schools. The board is considering turning Northeast Academy into a performing arts magnet school for students from within Groton.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim