SAN MARCOS - As San Marcos school district officials finalize an agreement to purchase a 22-acre lot in Vista for a new elementary school, habitat conservation crews are busy building a state-mandated 7-acre preserve which will provide a unique educational experience for students.

On Tuesday afternoon, crews from Habitat Restoration Sciences Inc., worked inside the fenced-off lot on the corner of Oleander and Mimosa avenues. The work was the beginning of five- and seven-year maintenance and monitoring contracts with the district to conserve endangered species at the site.

At the monthly board meeting this week, trustees approved the contracts with the independent company to address concerns in a lawsuit filed by the property owner Michael Tan and a community group called "Parents for Safe Schools."

Last week, officials announced they had reached a settlement agreement with the two parties, which will give the district the right to buy the land for $6 million and lead to dismissal of the lawsuit, which was filed in April to block construction of the 52,335-square-foot school.

San Marcos Unified trustees are expected to accept the settlement agreement at a special study meeting Jan. 17 at the North County Regional Education Center, 255 Pico Ave.

The lawsuit asserted that the district failed to address environmental issues at the site as required by the California Environmental Act and did not address traffic congestion and safety when it approved plans to build the school.

The lot for the school was once inhabited by the Kumeyaay Indians, specifically the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, and is full of fossils, according to an environmental report developed by Dudek & Associates Inc., an engineering and planning consulting firm in Encinitas. The site is also home to thread-leaved brodiaea, an endangered low-growing flowering plant.

The final environmental impact report approved by the school board a year ago stated construction would cause damage to the wetlands and endangered plants in the area such as the brodiaea.

Kathy Tanner, district executive director of facilities and planning, said the district was able to reach the settlement because they have addressed all of those environmental concerns.

Since the lawsuit was filed, approximately 7 acres of the site have been fenced off to contain and protect the existing wetlands which are home to more than 2,500 plant varieties. There have also been 14,000 square feet of brodiaea transplanted to a fenced-off area, according to officials.

Mark Girard, president of Habitat Restoration Sciences, Inc., said the school will take up 14 acres of the 22-acre lot and will be located on the opposite side of the special preserve that contains the wetlands and brodiaea.

Girard supervised workers on Tuesday while they cut down eucalyptus trees for the wetlands expansion.

Girard called the site "ideal" for a school because it will discourage the illegal dumping which has been prevalent in the area and the environmental aspects will offer a "unique" educational experience.

"It's going to be a real bonus for the kids and will also improve the neighborhood," said Girard at the site Tuesday. "Both will be surrounded by this really neat preserve."

Tanner said in addition to the contracts for the wetlands and brodiaea the district has approved a contract with Geotechnics Inc. to draft plans for a pedestrian walkway at the corner of Oleander and Mimosa avenues.

Other plans include putting in an 800-foot soil retaining wall required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department to minimize the impacts to the endangered brodiaea during construction and allow more parking spaces for the school.

Officials have also enlisted the help of a biologist, archaeologist and paleontologist, as well as a representative of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, to supervise transplanting and grading in the area. The goal is to ensure construction does not destroy any buried fossils or remains.

The estimated cost for the efforts is expected to total more than $150,000, which will be paid with the district's redevelopment and community facilities funds, according to officials.

Tanner said officials plan on taking advantage of the environmental features at the site by creating a new program focused on educating students about fossils and endangered plant species.

Plans are to build a viewing area for students to see the plants and develop a curriculum for the school with the help of the California Department of Fish and Game about preservation, biology and history.

"This will be extremely beneficial to our students," said Tanner.

Construction bids for the school are expected to go out in April. Construction is set to begin in June; the school is scheduled to open in August 2008.

- Contact staff writer Brenda Duran at (760) 761-4408 or bduran@nctimes.com.