READ THE FOLLOWING SMALL CASE STUDY AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

CASE STUDY: As theschool principal I was always evaluating the quality of my instructional staff and making sure that I had the best quality teachers in the school.One of my superstars was Mrs. Jones, a licensed middle school math and science teacher (it's not easy to find high quality teachers with such credentials).After two years on my teaching staff and just before the Thanksgiving holidays Mrs. Jones informed me that she and her husband were expecting their first child, and that her due date was early June.She also said that the schedule would work out well because she planned to continue teaching and would be back after the summer break.

As the schoolyear progressed, a few teachers mentioned to me that Mrs. Jones was having second thoughts about returning the following year and was considering staying home once her baby was born.I asked her on numerous occasions if she had changed her mind but she continued to tell me that she would be back.Still, other teachers said they did not believe she would return.I kept the position open, assuming that Mrs. Jones would tell me if she did not plan to come back the following year.However, I was beginning to have serious doubts.In early June, Mrs. Jones delivered a healthy baby boy. I congratulated her and her husband in person and said that I looked forward to seeing her in a couple of months.She did not say anything in response, which heightened my concerns, but I did not feel it was an appropriate time to ask her again if she would return. I did, however, start to look over my available resumes. Unfortunately, by mid to late summer most of the good teachers have accepted teaching offers - the pickings are often slim by the end of June and mid-July. Still, I assumed that Mrs. Jones would contact me if she was not planning to return.

In early August - about three weeks before the start of the school year - Mrs. Jones called to let me know that she and her husband decided that it would be in their best interest if she took time off to be with the baby.I now had to scramble, not only to hire a teacher but one with hard-to-find credentials.

QUESTIONS

What were my ethical responsibilities to Mrs. Jones?What were her ethical responsibilities to the school?Should I have paid attention to the rumors once they became more credible, and simply hired a math and science teacher to replace Mrs. Jones?How should I have balanced my obligations to Mrs. Jones with my obligations to the middle school students?What are the ethical issues associated with this dilemma?

Note:My school was operating on a very tight budget and there was not enough money to hire someone on a contingency basis.In essence, there were only enough funds to pay for one teacher per classroom.