UPDATE: Wednesday, 7 a.m.: This special meeting of the school committee, originally scheduled for Wednesday, has been moved to Thursday at 5 p.m. 

Whether the superintendent will attend the upcoming high school graduation will be one of  the topics the Marlborough School Committee will tackle when it holds a special meeting Thursday afternoon.

Last week, a group of seniors asked Superintendent Anthony Pope to consider not attending the graduation ceremony on Sunday, June 3. The students told Pope that given recent controversies about his leadership, they worried that his presence would be a distraction.

Superintendents typically take an active role in graduation ceremonies, often handing students diplomas or serving in other official roles.

The school board is also expected to take up the issue of the recent vote of no-confidence in Pope taken by the Marlborough Educators’ Association, the local teachers’ union.

The committee meets at the District Education Center.  

At its last meeting, the School Committee issued a statement that was an implicit expression of support for Pope, saying that recent issues have become a distraction from the common goal of student achievement. The board also said that Pope and other staffers would be offered conflict resolution training in coming weeks.

Students have said Pope behaved unprofessionally when he visited Marlborough High School on Jan. 27. A staffer also claimed Pope pushed her that day, but both Marlborough police and a clerk magistrate at Marlborough District Court declined to pursue criminal charges against the superintendent.