Ethics is the study of right and wrong in human behavior. An ethical dilemma occurs when a person faces a situation that creates a conflict for him, because of his values and beliefs. There is usually more than one way to resolve the issue, based on different value systems. Superintendents have considerable leeway in terms of administrative discretion, and they have to exercise this in a judicious manner. Thus, they may face ethical dilemmas in some situations.
Superintendents may have to deal with teachers who break the law. If a teacher is arrested for drunken driving, for instance, a school superintendent may face a dilemma in terms of how to deal with that person. The school board's preferred course of action may differ from the superintendent's plan. This could test the superintendent's principles if he thinks action should be taken against the teacher and the school board doesn't support him.
Sometimes, different schools in a school district don't have the same access to resources. One school may be very well equipped and have more course offerings than other schools. A school superintendent in a school district that faces this sort of unequal access to resources may have a dilemma in terms of how to resolve this issue so as not to shortchange any of the students, while also taking into account other community factors.
Another source of ethical dilemmas for superintendents is religion. They have to be sensitive to the needs of different religions and at the same time be aware of a need to separate church and state. A superintendent may, for example, run into a situation where a religious group has a tradition of distributing bibles to all fifth graders in the school district. On the one hand, if the superintendent opens up this opportunity to one group, she will have to accommodate others, as well. At the same time, if the program has support in the community, the superintendent might lose public backing if she changes or removes the program.