Newtown taxpayers currently underwrite tuition and/or unreimbursed transportation costs for 52 district students to attend charter and magnet schools out of district according to Business Manager Ron Bienkowski. The district is also eligible to receive a $1,300 transportation subsidy for each of these 52 students to help offset taxpayer costs, he said.

These and other details about Newtown’s charter and magnet school expenditures were requested following a CT Mirror report indicating that while operating costs have increased tuition requirements for those schools, state support for each child remains unchanged over the last five years.

In the Hartford region, that magnet tuition burden has increased from 27 to 30 percent — costing Capital region districts an additional $2.9 million in tuition this year.

According to the Mirror report, when a student leaves his or her community’s school to attend a magnet, the local district still gets to keep the funding they receive for that student from the state. That state funding is typically much larger than the tuition magnet schools charge.

According to Michael Shulansky, Deputy Communications Director for Connecticut's Northeast Charter Schools Network, public charter schools in Connecticut do not charge tuition to the districts where their students reside like magnets schools do.

Public charter schools in Connecticut receive $11,000 per-pupil from the state and the local districts are not required to supplement that amount, Mr Shulansky said.

To provide a remedy, magnet officials and students were at the state Capitol complex February 3 to ask legislators to boost state support by $1,000 for each student enrolled in their schools — a move that would cost the state nearly $11.3 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Newtown District budget documents provided to The Bee indicate that projected tuition for the students attending the Vocational Agriculture Program in Woodbury and two Regional Center for the Arts Programs in Trumbull and North Haven will cost $128,445 in tuition for 29 students — four going to Woodbury, eight to Trumbull and 17 to North Haven.

Those enrollment figures have been fairly consistent since 2012, according to the current budget proposal. Newtown also budgets a flat fee to hold places in a regional medical internship initiative, which is increasing from $6,000 to $7,000 next year despite documentation showing no Newtown students are participating.

This program is designed to allow juniors and seniors to explore and understand health care careers. Newtown is one of ten participating school districts. Students complete 18 weeks of a paid internship either in one of the local hospitals or with a community healthcare provider, attend monthly classes related to health science, technology, and career development.

The goals of the program are to provide meaningful work-based learning, encourage informed post-secondary planning, develop a professional work ethic, and to expose participating students to work-based mentoring relationships.

Documentation currently shows a proposed reduction in tuition costs for the Danbury magnet for students in the K through Grade 5 programs of about 23 percent — from $62,440 this year to $48,168 in the next school year.

Mr Bienkowski said the local district is reducing its number of reservations from 35 to 27 because there is reduced interest from students asking to attend the magnet.

The district business manager said the proposed tuition budget total for only the high school magnets for next year is $94,153, and magnet transportation currently budgeted at $46,432, is proposed at $49,900 for the next fiscal cycle.

School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, commented on what amounts to an unfunded mandate to provide magnet or charter school tuition and transportation to any student requesting it, saying, “Legislation is specific regarding the opportunity the local district must provide for students wanting to attend an out of district magnet; thus, the loss of local control.”

“In my previous district [Southington], which was an adjudicated Sheff district, the magnet school expense was significant to local taxpayers.”

In regard to projected 2015-2016 costs, Dr Erardi said, “We have done and will continue to do the needed work to ensure all students a safe transport. Safety will never be compromised. With that said, we will also continue to investigate the most reasonable cost to ensure safe transportation.”

This report was updated February 9 to include and clarify tuition information specific to charter schools.