AUBURN – The Auburn School Committee has approved a plan to get laptops into the high school.

The committee voted unanimously Wednesday to spend $90,000 on 300 rented Apple computers. According to Superintendent Barbara Eretzian, $38,000 would be reimbursed by the state. The remaining $52,000 would come from grants.

Although the committee didn’t have to vote on spending grant money, Eretzian asked for formal consent anyway.

“This is such an important project I wanted to bring this forward to you,” she said.

Currently, the state provides leased laptops for all public middle school students. State and local education officials have pushed for the program to be expanded into Maine high schools, but the Legislature failed to fund the project for next year.

Last month, the education commissioner proposed a plan in which schools would pay $300 per unit to lease computers from Apple and would receive state money to install wireless Internet networks. Within a few days, nearly 60 school systems said they were interested.

In order for the plan to go through, at least 40 percent of the state’s 158 high schools must participate, or the state must guarantee the lease of at least 8,400 computers.

Eretzian said she wanted the school board’s formal OK Wednesday so she could tell the state it is 300 machines closer to that goal.

Although middle school laptops are given to every student, the machines at Edward Little High School would be dedicated to certain classes. The computers would stay in the classroom for use by students.

If the state plan doesn’t go through, Eretzian said she would like the school system to negotiate its own deal with Apple.