POLAND – Brittney Bell wonders if she’ll have to choose between defending her state track title or addressing her graduating class.

“You’re supposed to be proud to attend graduation,” the Poland Regional High School senior said. Bell is slated to graduate second in her class and is expected to make a speech. “I am being asked to give up something that I love.”

On June 6, graduation day, the state plans to hold its finals in track. The Class B competition is scheduled for Mount Desert Island High School in Bar Harbor with the final event set to begin at 5 p.m.

Graduation is scheduled to begin two hours later and 165 miles away. Bell and 10 other senior track athletes – including their valedictorian – shouldn’t have to choose, she said.

Principal Cari Medd vowed Thursday to find a solution.

“We’ll move the graduation to a later time if we have to,” Medd said. “We’re committed to having them all back.”

The school plans to make vans available to whisk the seniors back to Poland as quickly as possible, Medd said. She also promised that the scheduling won’t conflict again.

Medd’s assurances failed to settle the matter.

On Thursday, Bell and others spent a second day beneath the obelisk in the high school’s common area. They collected signatures and handed out blue and white ribbons, fliers and stickers with the slogan “Change the Date.”

Fliers had pleas to call School Committee members, Medd and Superintendent Dennis Duquette, and listed their phone numbers.

By noon Thursday, the students had collected 179 signatures.

“We need the change,” said Alexa Doyer of Mechanic Falls, who helped start the initiative.

It’s a recurring problem in several local schools, and not just in track. Tennis players also run into conflicts at the end of the year, said Jason Fuller, athletic director for Lewiston High School.

Since Lewiston typically holds its graduation on Friday evening, the kids don’t have to choose between sports and commencement. But they often miss the Project Graduation party, he said.

Other schools, such as Lisbon, hold the ceremony a week later, when there are few conflicts.

Doyer noticed Poland’s conflict a few weeks ago.

On Tuesday, she brought the issue to the newly created Regional School Unit 29 board, which oversees Poland, Mechanic Falls and Minot schools. Committee members listened but took no action. Doyer has also asked supporters to attend the Poland Regional High School Committee meeting on April 15.

Her goal: change the date to the following day.

Even if the graduation ceremony is delayed until 8:30 p.m., the students would be disheveled from a track meet followed by a frantic three-hour drive, she said. The typical primping that the students go through before the big ceremony would be gone.

Meanwhile, the late start would be difficult for attending families, including many elderly people, Doyer said.

A one-day delay would have its own problems.

The senior class Project Graduation party is planned for the YMCA in Waterville. The students’ fundraising has already paid out about $6,500 for the all-night rental, a DJ, a hypnotist and some surprises.

“We’ve signed contracts with these people,” said Jayne Ray, a mother who helped organize the celebration.

When the conflict came up, she talked with the YMCA folks and the entertainers. The club would be available for the move, but the entertainers could not change dates.

“They’re all booked,” Ray said.

She worries that if the graduation ceremony changes, the chem-free party will fall apart. “We’ve all worked really hard so we can keep these kids safe for one more night.”