I am the principal of a rapidly growing suburban high school with a population of about 3,000 students. Because our school, as well as every other school in the district, is growing so quickly, we are seeing an increase in school policy violations. Of the most serious violations this year, there was recently a large fight involving two different groups of students. Many of the students involved in the fight, from both groups, were found to be either intoxicated or high. At the end of the school year, the annual teacher survey reflected their strong concerns regarding the increase of violent incidences on campus. During the summer, our school improvement committee (twenty teachers varying in experience and specialty) and our School Resource Officer (Officer Smith) gathered along with the administrative team to address teacher concerns.

Much discussion of homeroom incentive programs and student council-driven themes were deemed too superficial to motivate students to stay drug and violence free. At the conclusion of the meeting, Officer Smith mentioned that he knew of a resource officer, his best friend from childhood, who had been trained by the National Resource Center for Safe Schools. With this training, he established a drug free school program at a local high school across town. He mentioned that the faculty and community members endorsed the program and were pleased with changes that were instituted. This friend of Smith's, Officer Garcia, was to be transferring into the town's police department shortly, therefore Officer Smith said he would contact Garcia to bring him in to the next meeting as a guest speaker to discuss the program.

When Garcia met with the group, he was extremely positive, energetic, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and eager to see our school improve. Teachers were excited to finally have someone on our campus with a solution at hand and mentioned how much they would enjoy working with him. I immediately phoned the coordinator of school resource officers to discuss the possibility of Garcia joining Smith in the assignment on our campus. Though the coordinator agreed the two would positively impact our campus, it was financially unrealistic to have two officers at one site. She did mention that this was the time (summer) to make any changes and I could petition to have Garcia assigned to our campus, but would have to release Smith from his current assignment. Smith could either be reassigned to another campus in the district or placed back on the street. A decision would have to come soon, as Garcia's transfer was all ready in progress.

I decided I would first speak to Smith, then Garcia, regarding the program details. With both, it was a discussion that would act as an informal interview. Officer Smith, who has been with us for several years, endorsed the models that Garcia recommended and said that Garcia had the strengths to accomplish the goal. He also said that if the two were a team, he would hand the project to Garcia and handle the other, more minor infractions that came up on campus. Overall, he generally seemed disinterested in the program, but was proud of himself for helping us find a solution. Conversely, Garcia was passionate about improving the climate of school, not just through the models that were proposed, but by incorporating the community, parents, teachers, and students.

My first reaction was to ask the resource officer coordinator to assign Garcia to our campus, thereby releasing Smith. His disinterest, in comparison to Garcia's enthusiasm, was reflecting negatively upon him. But Smith was a loyal and true member of the adult community on campus for many years and had earned the trust of teachers and administrators. Did Smith not understand that he, in essence, was firing himself from his own position by showing indifference? Had he expressed interest in becoming a team player and consulting with Garcia on the project, I would not have even considered asking Garcia to join our campus. Perhaps Smith is not a team player and upset that teachers are excited over ideas that are not his, but are supposed to be a part of his specialty. If formal interviews were held, where both candidates were aware of the situation, would Smith act interested just to hold onto his job? If he stayed, would he resent the faculty and myself for wanting Garcia as our campus officer? Would we see true results from Smith if he did stay? Would Garcia decline the assignment anyway because it would bring about conflict? Would the entire dilemma break down a childhood friendship that had lasted into adulthood? I do not have the luxury of time to investigate and get to know each officer better. I must decide within the next few days who will be the resource officer on campus for the upcoming school year.