PORTLAND (AP) – Local school officials say there are hidden costs in the state Education Department’s plan to expand its laptop computer program to all high school students in Maine.

State education officials announced three weeks ago that they hoped to provide a laptop to every public school student in grades seven through 12 by fall. The aim is to add 53,000 high school students to the first-in-the-nation program, which now serves students in grades seven and eight.

In announcing the initiative, state officials said the program was voluntary and would use existing funds dedicated to educational technology.

But local school administrators now say the program is coming with more strings and more costs than expected.

School districts will need additional staff – and therefore more money – to manage the computers, they said. Furthermore, in districts that don’t participate, the state would take away laptops now given to high school teachers as part of the program.

The issue hit home last week in Westbrook, where the school committee created a $49,000-a-year staff position to manage the laptops, the Portland Press Herald reported. Superintendent Stanley Sawyer said the added technician will help set up the laptops and troubleshoot problems.

“It’s unrealistic to get 800 computers next year and not hire an additional technician to help deploy those,” Sawyer said.

School officials in Portland and South Portland also said they will need extra personnel.

Administration officials said the expanded program will help students build much-needed computer skills. They also disputed claims that their public statements – in which they call the program voluntary and say it would not require additional funding – have been misleading.

“It’s not heavy-handed. It’s not dictatorial. It’s not a demand,” said David Farmer, the governor’s deputy chief of staff.

One lawmaker is calling for a more thorough review of the initiative, introduced as an item to be added to Gov. John Baldacci’s budget proposal.

State Sen. Carol Weston of Montville, a member of the Legislature’s Education Committee, said administration officials “have given a false impression” about the cost of the expansion.

“We have too many questions to let this go on and be inserted in the budget,” she said.

Maine started its program by distributing computers to every seventh- and eighth-grader in all of the state’s state public schools in 2002 and 2003. The state currently provides Apple laptops to 37,000 middle-schoolers and about 10,000 middle school and high school teachers and administrators.

State officials are now working on a four-year lease with Apple Inc. for 100,000 laptops.

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