ABSTRACT
The dual purpose of this qualitative narrative-phenomenological study was, first, to understand the lived experiences of school leader's decision-making during the spring 2020, COVID-19 school shut down and how the experience shaped the re-entry plan creation, implementation, and adjustment during the 2020-2021 school year. The second purpose of the study was to discover how school leaders' perceptions amidst the turbulence and Contextual Forces helped shape their ability to make ethical decisions and respond to Contextual Forces as the leaders created and implemented school re-entry plans during the 2020-2021 school year. The framework of this study was based on Lewin's (1947) 3-Step Change Theory and Shapiro and Gross' (2013) Multiple Ethical Paradigm and Turbulence Theory. With research question one, this study supported prior research on the themes of collaboration, communication, relationships, student achievement, and power of position within public school districts. When considering purpose two of the study, the Ethical Paradigms of Shapiro and Gross (2013) played an integral role in school leader decision-making within the COVID phenomenon during the spring 2020 shutdown through the 2020-2021 school year. School leaders during this time utilized the Ethic of Justice, which emphasizes legal guidance, and the Ethic of Care, which emphasizes concern for individuals' welfare, when considering their ethical decisions. However, as the year progressed, the Ethics of Justice began to be challenged by school leaders by the Ethic of Profession to reconcile decisions within community codes and ethos. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)