School Leadership Dilemma

An ethical dilemma is a situation that will often involve an apparent conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another. It emerges in a conflict between at least two values which requires different responses. Ethical leadership requires leaders to mature as their primary concern is the acquisition of the virtue not just technique and character. The ethical dilemma discussion in question comes from the interview with the principal of Holy Trinity High School and this is the scenario: The school has a strict policy on drugs for students and the teachers and parents always support these policies. Daniel, a senior student, was caught at the school with small amount of marijuana. Daniel has not always been an easy student but he has worked hard not to be in any trouble. The principal knows that he worked 20 hours part time to support his ill mother and younger brother. Exclusion means he might miss his forthcoming exams and probably lose his part time part-time job if his employer finds out.

In this case the Principal is ultimately the final decision maker but the members of the school board or administrative team members might be involved to some degrees through consultation, sharing of information and so on , but in the long run he has the final say and actually finds this particular situation problematic because there is the potential for an ethical dilemma to arise in such circumstances.

The Principal is very confused because the following factors are at play at this point: his professional ethics; because he's expected to operate according to certain established codes of behavior within a particular framework; given the particular misdemeanor of interest here, there may be certain legal obligations that the principal must respond to like reporting to the police; the school's organizational culture plays a role too i.e. the actions of the school in similar incidents previously; there may be broad public interest in the incident e.g. from the society and the community; the