I know that I pulled up something a few years ago that verified he was THE principal. I can't dig for it right now. The script, however, identifies him upon entrance as "Richard Vernon, a teacher."
I work at a high school and have supervised many Saturday detentions. A few observations:
1. All schools are a little different, but it would be unusual for a senior administrator, such as a principal, to supervise Saturdays. For schools that have this, they are usually supervised by certified staffers or faculty (teachers). Where I work, I've seen guidance counselors, psychologists and teachers handle it. They are paid in addition to their salaries, so many like to pick those shifts up. The district no longer uses non-certified staff for this.
2. Vernon does have a nice office, which suggests that he is more than a teacher. Most administrators I know have taught at some point in their careers. It's possible that if he's not a principal, assistant principal or disciplinary dean of students, he could be an academic department chairman (in which case he would likely still teach a class or two) or hold some other position in student services, like student activity director.
3. The scene where Carl catches him looking at student files does not ring true to me. Faculty and staff are constantly referring to student records, and there is nothing unusual about someone like Vernon accessing them. Either way, a custodian wouldn't know if he was doing something wrong, let alone confront him in this way. Others have pointed out to me that he may be looking at employee records, but I never took that from the scene (the script only refers to them as "the confidential files").
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