The future of a pilot program eyed as a model to eventually put laptops in the hands of all Hawaii public school students and teachers is uncertain now that lawmakers have zeroed out funds to continue supporting the initiative.

Eight schools were selected last summer to pilot what’s known as a one-to-one digital device initiative, which provided MacBook Air laptops to some 6,700 students and teachers for the current school year.

The program dubbed Access Learning was scaled down to a pilot after legislators last year funded less than a third of the costs the state Department of Education had requested to implement a program statewide.

The department had wanted $29 million for its initial plan. Lawmakers, however, budgeted $8.2 million for a pilot, citing concerns about the department’s ability to manage a statewide rollout and the potential for burdening teachers at a time when the state is undergoing multiple educational reforms.

The department spent most of the appropriation $7.9 million to buy the devices along with software, digital curriculum, educational apps, warranties and storage carts. It used its own funds to cover $600,000 for professional development to train teachers and $450,000 for management software, including tracking services.

Heeding a directive to be prudent with budget requests, the department this year did not ask the Legislature for money to buy more devices and expand the pilot.

Instead, the DOE asked for $600,000 to sustain the existing pilot. The funds would be used to cover professional development direct training and support to the schools on integrating technology in the classroom and technical support services.

The request had survived in the House version of the budget but was cut from the Senate’s $12.1 billion budget passed last week.

When the Senate picked up the budget draft, it was faced with a half-billion dollars less to spend through fiscal year 2015 because of a lower revenue forecast last month. Conference committee negotiations on a final budget draft are expected to start early next week.

"Obviously we had to cut quite a bit because of the Council on Revenues’ reduction, and the $600,000 was not included in the Senate draft," said Sen. Jill Tokuda, chairwoman of the Senate EducationCommittee and a member of the Ways and Means Committee.

The DOE is still figuring out its options.

"We understand how critical this request was for the continued success of our pilot schools and are in the process of looking at what, if any, resources are available to sustain the efforts and provide technology supports," said Amy Kunz, DOE assistant superintendent and chief financial officer.

Tokuda (D, Kailua-Kaneohe) said she’s hopeful lawmakers can consider reinstating the cut.

"This is an investment that can really make a huge difference so that we can start to really see where we can go with this technology. But we’ve got some really, really tough fiscal decisions to make," she said.

"One important thing to recognize is that this is not for hardware, but for professional development and support for schools," she added. "When you talk to the principals, the message is very loud and clear that the hardware is really just a vehicle. It’s the teachers who make it work, and they really need that training and support to maximize the technology."

That need was evident at the start of the pilot, when teachers at six of the eight schools requested additional time for training before their laptops were delivered. Students at those schools didn’t start learning on the devices until the following semester.

A DOE survey of teachers at the eight pilot schools showed most find that the devices are "highly effective" for creating assignments (94 percent), planning for instruction (93 percent), presenting lessons (92 percent) and creating integrated lessons (82 percent).

"If we don’t train the teachers, they can’t make it real for the kids," Moanalua Middle Principal Lisa Nagamine said during a recent campus tour showcasing the pilot program in action.

Moanalua teachers across all subjects language arts, science, band, English Language Learners are using the devices in their classrooms.

The other pilot schools, chosen in part because their campuses have the needed technological infrastructure, are Keaau Elementary and Pahoa Elementary on Hawaii island, Mililani Mauka Elementary, Mililani Waena Elementary, Nanaikapono Elementary, Nanakuli Elementary and Nanakuli Intermediate and High.