Lagunitas School District trustees this week agreed to hear a proposal to build an onsite septic system for the district's schools and to vote whether to quit their contract to build a pond-based system with the French Ranch development.

At next month's school board meeting, trustees are scheduled to listen to a proposal from Lescure Engineering to build a sand-filtered, drip-irrigation septic system on school grounds.

Trustees also are scheduled to vote on a resolution to abandon the proposed joint system with French Ranch and instead start from scratch and review all possible solutions to replace the schools' failing septic systems.

The draft resolution, submitted by Trustee Richard Sloan, acknowledges the considerable local opposition to the joint project, as well as the unresolved issues of ownership of the proposed Advanced Integrated Wastewater Pond System, or AIWPS.

"I think we have to reexamine all the assumptions," Sloan told the board. "The more discussion I hear, and the more I get involved in it, the more I would like to go back and look at every detail."

Sloan's position was supported by most members of the audience, who argued the board had not thoroughly considered all possibilities for a system on school grounds before agreeing to build AIWPS with neighboring French Ranch.

Mark Warner of Forest Knolls, an advocate of the drip-irrigation system, challenged whether the school board should have relied so heavily on a 1996 study by Questa Engineering. Questa found that soils on school grounds were inadequate to absorb effluent from a below-ground system.

"Is there adequate information in the study done by Questa to determine what systems can be done?" Warner asked.

However, district representative Jim Walton supported the Questa study, saying that it provided enough information for any engineer to make an informed proposal for any type of wastewater system.

"For where you are now, you don't need additional tests," he told trustees.

Walton said representatives from Lescure Engineering should be able to explain on Oct. 7 whether regulatory agencies have ever approved a drip-irrigation system on school grounds, whether the school grounds could absorb effluent during wet winters, and whether unabsorbed effluent would stink or pose health risks.

Trustee Brian Dodd said Lescure representatives should also present alternatives that include French Ranch, noting that the county asked the district and the subdivision to explore septic systems together.

Meanwhile, trustees are scheduled to

meet with French Ranch developer Bruce Burman and county counsel next week to discuss the shared ownership of - and liability for - the proposed pond system.

School board President Steve Charrier said any uncertainties about the contract should be resolved within two months.

If Sloan's resolution passes, however, it is uncertain how long it would take to complete more engineering studies and select a suitable replacement for the school's failing septic systems. Said Walton, "We don't have unlimited funds, and the clock is ticking."