According to Brenan (2021), 77% of Americans are concerned about the morals and values in America. Morality is embedded in the foundation of the United States and its educational system, with ethical dilemmas requiring leaders to be intentional and cognizant (Dahl, 2015; Johnson, 2021; Lickona, 1993; Smith, 2020). The California public educational system requires its leaders to have high moral and ethical acumen (California Legislature, 1998; California School Boards Association, 2007). However, there is currently no mandatory ethical training for superintendents (School of College and Legal Services, 2020), and how a superintendent makes an ethical and moral decision is unknown. Therefore, this qualitative phenomenological study explored the perceptions of eight California Superintendents concerning morals, values, and ethics and their influence on decisions. The study was guided by the theoretical framework of moral development, the four-component model, the basic values theory, and ethical concepts of utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics. A semi-structured interview was conducted with twenty-three interview questions to aggregate the data to enrich existing research and serve as means of information for the educational system. The coding process revealed fourteen overall findings (strategies, politics, legislation, legal, balancing varying perspectives, conflict resolution, level of influence, communication, branding, and marketing, emotional intelligence, policy lens, constant growth and learning, the impact of decisions, character, community, alignment, and pause and examine) with seven conclusions of (a) the challenges and dilemmas for superintendents being politics, legislation, laws, and the balancing of multiple perspectives; (b and c) an implementation process by which superintendents can incorporate morals, values, and ethics through emotional intelligence and identification; (d and e) societal values do not directly influence superintendents, who are instead influenced by constant growth and learning, while social values directly influence the governance system; (f and g) superintendents are intentional, deliberate, and conscientious decision-makers. Cognizant superintendents are intentional in their leadership and understand their decisions have a significant impact; however, definitive identification of ethical dilemmas was not consistent. Therefore, the study provides recommendations for instituting an annual ethics training policy and for superintendents to engage in a decision quality analysis process when in an ethical dilemma/decision. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]