A study examined the effects on elementary school climate that result from a change of principal. Data were collected over a 12-month period at 12 schools in an urban school division. Six of the schools were scheduled to have principal changes in fall 1994 and six were not. Teachers completed Hoy, Tarter, and Kottkamp's (1991) OCDQ-RE survey in May and October 1994; principals were interviewed in October 1994 and February 1995. New principals recognized the importance of school climate and of the need to gain faculty acceptance, and school climates changed somewhat in three of the six buildings with new principals. However, staff turnover and annual differences between attitudes in May and those in October may also have affected measurement of climate, and climate itself. The research suggests that school climates are not very stable or at least that their measurement does not provide stable assessment. (Contains 11 references.) (LMI)