POULSBO — School board members and North Kitsap School District capital programs director Robin Shoemaker won’t be letting the grass grow on the issue of synthetic turf at North Kitsap High School stadium.

Instead, they will be forging ahead with an ambitious schedule in hopes of both finding a suitable contractor for the $850,000 project and beating a fall deadline.

A 45-minute discussion amongst community members and board members followed after Shoemaker unveiled the risks of going to bid with such a tight timetable in place.

The earliest a bid opening could occur is June 13, making June 18 the soonest construction can begin, she said.

“It’s going to be very challenging for a contractor to finish the project in six to eight weeks,” she said. “It’s important that you be made aware of the risks involved. It’s going to be a very tight schedule.”

Football practice begins Aug. 15 and soccer kicks off Aug. 20.

With the short timeframe in place for construction, Shoemaker said the project also runs the risk of being passed over by contractors.

Even so, the majority of the board agreed that opening bids on synthetic turf was the least they could do after all the work the four partners on the project the North Kitsap School District, Public Facilities District, city of Poulsbo, and Kitsap County have done in preparation for this project.

“If we don’t go to bid, we will never know,” school board member Catherine Ahl said.

PFD chair Linda Berry-Maraist agreed with Ahl’s assessment.

“Let’s at least find out where the bids are at,” she said. “Our community desperately needs a turf field. The sooner we can get it, the better.”

Poulsbo resident Marcy Salo noted the importance that the field be finished prior to football season because the senior class should be able to host home football games in the fall.

“I think it needs to be done in time,” she said. “You’re asking a lot of those kids who already are going to have to share their home field with another school and lose a lot of their friends to another school (Kingston) in their senior year.”