Cato-Meridian High School interim principal Charles Mitchell has tendered his resignation to the school board after he showed a soccer video to a group of students during which a female streaker appeared on screen.

There are some in the Cato-Meridian district who wonder whether the self-imposed punishment fit the crime. They would suggest that high school students are exposed to a lot worse than a streaker, and that a principal shouldn't lose his job over such an incident.

But we rightfully hold our principals to a higher standard. We expect them to be not only educational leaders in our schools, but exemplary models of moral values and integrity. It was a significant error/lapse in judgment on the part of Mitchell to show a video that contained incidental nudity to students.

But should Mitchell be out?

The truth is, Mitchell was only going to serve a couple more months as interim principal. If any of the parents of the students who saw the video had warned the district that they intended to take legal action and/or make this an issue, then Mitchell's departure defuses the outrage. Had he remained in office, school board meetings could have been taken over by the frustrations within the community. And considering the board is already dealing with a difficult budget season and an upcoming tax levy they desperately want passed, this was not the time for a potential distraction of this magnitude.

And this district knows distraction.

Cato-Meridian is the most divisive district of the nine in the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES. They have ousted school board members, others have resigned, and superintendent Deborah Bobo has been under attack from her critics for several years.

Voters rejected the district's 2004 tax levy proposal and forced the district into a teeth-gnashing contingency budget that frayed nerves and prompted an overhaul of the school board. This year, a group of private citizens organized a special meeting in which they agreed to monitor this year's board and its budget process.

And Mitchell took over for former principal Michael Rizzi, who got paid thousands of dollars by the school board to resign last fall with a promise that he would not sue the district.

Mitchell's decision to resign may have been the most extreme option, but given the climate in Cato-Meridian and the potential fallout, it may have saved this beleaguered district from yet another long, drawn-out debacle.