Deputy Superintendent Ben Picard said Cingular Wireless approached the district with the idea at the beginning of October. Picard said the district allowed a feasibility study on the site to find out if it would, in fact, take care of coverage problems in the area.

If a tower were installed, Cingular would pay rent on the property to the district. Picard said that while the final rent is still undetermined because no project has been planned, he has been told it could be around $1,250 each month.

"In a time of limited funding for education--like that which is pervasive across California right now--it would be a welcome revenue stream," Picard said.

Picard said the study is still ongoing; he expects it to be completed within 60 days. It would then need approval from the Board of Education and the city of Sunnyvale before it could move forward.

Bishop Principal Eric Panosian said one of the primary concerns he has heard from Bishop parents is that although the school would be shouldering any burdens associated with the tower, the district would get the money, meaning it might not come back to them.

But Picard said the district's primary concern would be shielding Bishop from negative effects.

"Certainly if we can place a tower in an area that is not obtrusive and doesn't impact the school site, and if it is not a health or safety problem, then we're open to it," Picard said, pointing out that Fremont High School already receives rent money for hosting towers.

Cellular towers in non-commercial areas are becoming more common in Sunnyvale and around the nation. As mobile devices such as cell phones and personal digital assistants become more ubiquitous, the infrastructure that serves them has had to grow as well, moving into residential zones with towers on churches, schools and other community buildings.

"This has been a learning experience for me. I didn't realize there were so many towers already out there," Panosian said. "They're all over the place already, so I don't feel like this would be out-of-the-ordinary for our site."

While there has never been a tower placed on Sunnyvale School District land, Picard said the district had been approached several years ago by Verizon Wireless to put a tower up on Sunnyvale Middle School, but the site was never developed.