Clovis Municipal Schools Superintendent Terry Myers said the Clovis High School graduation date that some parents want to change will impact less than a dozen of 500 seniors expected to graduate.

The high school graduation, slated for May 18, falls on the same day as the state's spring athletic championships.

According to Clovis High rosters listed on the New Mexico Activities Association website (nmact.org), there are 25 seniors listed on the Wildcat track, tennis, baseball and softball teams.

Assuming every CHS team reaches the state championship, and every CHS track senior qualifies for the Class 5A state meet, the senior athletes represent about 5 percent of the 500 seniors.

Myers said he had his athletic directors research how many seniors would be impacted if the graduation date does not change.

He said there could be up to 12 track students if each qualified track student makes the finals.

"There's no way to know exactly how many kids are going to make the finals," Myers said.

"Right now everything is just speculation as to how many folks would be affected."

Myers said the board could choose to vote on a graduation date change but the special board meeting scheduled for Monday is mainly to review future calendars for other scheduling conflicts.

"It's almost impossible to build a conflict-free calendar but we want to avoid things like this if it all possible," Myers said.

Myers said he has spoken to a New Mexico Activities Association official about the accuracy and stability of the event schedules to avoid facing the issue again.

JD Isler, a local rancher and former CHS basketball coach, said he plans to attend the special school board meeting to support the schedule change if he has the opportunity.

Isler does not believe the number of students impacted is the issue.

"I feel like if it involved the superintendent's child or a school board member's child they would feel the same way that ... parents are feeling about our kids."

Isler pointed out that senior athletes often bring significant positive attention to Clovis.

"For these students to be representing Clovis and at the same time not getting to partake in the high school graduation is not right."