The public school principal plays a vital role in both school integration and school-community relations. Yet as school integration has progressed, the number of black principals has sharply decreased. A recent study has found several relevant conditions--that: (1) the more nearly a school approaches an equal black/white ratio of students, the more likely the principal is to consult school groups as his primary reference groups for change; (2) black subgroups are more likely to achieve equal status with white subgroups in the principal's cognizance of their needs and goals in the school that is composed of no more than 65 percent white students; (3) the principal of the school that has at least a five percent racial mixture is more sensitive to the mood of the school than the principal of a predominantly black or white school; he is most likely to develop his own sensitivity to the tenor of the school at the nearly equal black/white ratio; and, (4) principals of schools with a racial mixture of between five and 65 percent white are more likely to be involved in major system-wide decisions than any other principals, especially in major systemwide decisions directly related to desegregation than other principals. (Author/JM)