The school board has received a bomb threat claiming that a bomb will be detonated at noon on Monday at the high school. The threat was received by the school board at 8 p.m. on Sunday night. The school board met and tried to decide how to handle the threat, keeping in mind the obligations to students, parents, and the public. The school board came up with three alternative solutions:
1. Do nothing, because a majority of the time, bomb threats to schools are a hoax.
2. Call off school at the high school on Monday. Have an announcement made on the 10 p.m. Sunday news explaining that a water main is broken. (Some members of the board feel that an announcement of the breaking water main will prevent copycat threats.)
3. Call off school at the high school on Monday. Have an announcement made on the 10 p.m. Sunday news explaining that a bomb threat had been received.
Discuss which ethical theory supports each alternative. Which would you choose, and why?