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Steamboat Springs — Turf, teachers and timelines are on a packed agenda for tonight's meeting of the Steamboat Springs School Board.

Board members are scheduled to decide whether to accept an Education Fund Board gift of $250,000 that would help install artificial turf on the primary athletic field at Steamboat Springs High School. The board also is slated to select a 2006 Teacher of the Year for the Steamboat Springs School District after interviewing four nominees. Members also will discuss how to collaborate with city officials about construction plans for the district-owned George P. Sauer Human Services Center.

The turf field has sparked public interest during the past two weeks. More than 40 people attended a special meeting Thursday night of the Education Fund Board, largely to speak in favor of a synthetic, all-weather surface on Gardner Field that supporters say would reduce travel , injuries and missed classes for student athletes. The Fund Board approved the $250,000 gift with a 9-0 vote. Two of those votes came from Denise Connelly and Pat Gleason, who are also on the five-member School Board.

If the School Board approves the artificial field tonight, a community group has pledged to raise the remainder of the funds needed for the field. High school Principal Mike Knezevich said the field could cost between $450,000 and $550,000.

The School Board also is scheduled to select the school district's Teacher of the Year, who will be nominated for a state honor from the Colorado Board of Education.

Steamboat's nominees are: Soda Creek Elementary School reading teacher Ginny Osbourn; Strawberry Park Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Karen Goodman; Steamboat Springs Middle School sixth-grade social studies and English teacher Sally Howard; and Steamboat Springs High School geography, civics and American history teacher Meghan Hanson.

Each nominee will receive a $1,000 scholarship for continuing education from the Lazof Family Foundation, founded by part-time Steamboat residents Chenza and Ron Lazof.

The school district's long-term facility plans are under the microscope, especially after a Tuesday decision by the Steamboat Springs City Council to build a new community center at the George P. Sauer building, a historical Seventh Street site that contains several school district offices and programs.

If school district and Steam--boat voters decide to rebuild Soda Creek Elementary School in Old Town -- a sentiment supported by community members at recent public forums -- the human services center could be needed to house Soda Creek students for at least one academic year while construction takes place.

A new, regional alternative high school also will be housed in the building starting in September.

Because of the potentially conflicting timelines and construction plans, superintendent Donna Howell has said "a discussion needs to take place" with School Board members and city officials. That discussion could begin tonight.