SAUGUS-A fair number of students have always chosen to attend school elsewhere, but Superintendent Keith Manville said this year’s numbers are alarming because not only are they large, but they include younger students.Nearly 900 students have chosen to attend schools out of district instead of attending the Saugus Public School System.Manville said in his nine years in town, there have always been between 500 and 600 students who headed off to parochial, charter or private schools, but the 900 number caught him off guard.He said the number of elementary students opting out of the public system also caught him off guard.”What bothers us the most is we have a lot of elementary kids leaving,” he said. “That counters the trend.”Manville said tradition dictates that students usually jump to private or parochial schools when they hit middle school or high school age, not at the first or second grade level.But losing faith in the public school system and putting your child in private school is a growing trend – one Manville said he can’t counter with the budget he has.Manville told the Finance Committee last week that it is hard to entice students back to public schools when he can’t offer them more than very basic programming.When the School Department took a swift $3.4 million cut to its budget last year, a number of electives offered at the middle school were dropped. Despite constant requests from parents and suggestions by educational experts, there are also no foreign languages taught at the middle school.The elementary school lost gym, music and art. The high school also lost classes and every school saw a jump in class sizes. Manville said that is hardly a recipe to bring students back to the Saugus Public Schools.Earlier this year, Selectman Stephen Castinetti admitted he and his wife decided to send their son, who is headed to middle school, to private school. He said it was a tough decision because he wants to support the schools, but in the end he said he couldn’t do it at the expense of his son’s education.Manville said he has spoken with a number of parents who have opted out of the local system and they all tell him the same thing: they would much rather have their children in public schools, but Saugus doesn’t seem to care about its system and, until that changes, they’ll send their children elsewhere.”The impact of the low enrollment is snowballing,” Manville added.The formula that determines Chapter 70, or state educational aid, has been altered in a way that should benefit the town. The actual benefit was minimal, however, because of low enrollment. Chapter 70 is based on the number of students in the system n the fewer students, the fewer dollars.Manville said he could only see two ways that the School Department can work its way out of its financial/enrollment bind.”And this is just an editorial comment but an accurate town census would help us in state aid,” he said. “And approve our $27,650,461 budget request and let us get back to work.”Saugus Students: Where Are They Going?Arlington Catholic 2Austin Prep 44Bishop Fenwick 27BC High School 2Chevrus School 27E. Boston Central Catholic 4Essex Agricultural 12The Governor’s Academy 3The Hathaway School 1Malden Catholic 47Meritor Academy 1Odyssey Day School 4Lady of Assumption (Lynn) 62Lady of Nazareth Academy 18Pope John 38Sacred Heart 14Salem High School 1Shore County Day School 1St. John’s Prep 22St. Joseph’s (Medford) 5St. Joseph’s (Salem) 1St. Joseph’s (Wakefield) 22St. Mary’s (Danvers) 13St. Mary’s (Lynn) 98St. Mary’s (Melrose) 59St. Patrick’s School 28St. Pius V Elementary 12St. Raphael School 2St. Rose School 6Tower School (Marblehead) 3Charter SchoolsBenjamin Banneker 2Marblehead Community 4Mystic Valley Regional 39Pioneer Charter 8Prospect Hill Academy 5Salem Academy 4