This article reports on a study that explores collaborative structures of shared decision-making in an urban secondary school in the USA. The data in the study came from unstructured interviews with 20 teachers, the principal, the assistant principal, a counsellor and 10 students. The interviews took place over a three-week period in June of 2001 and revealed tensions across significant areas of the school. Tensions such as making collective agreements within norms of equal status, or the public exposure of decision-making by teacher leadership, correlate closely with Little's findings in restructured schools. Teachers negotiated these tensions at a very personal level. Exploring these tensions helped define a complex collective reality of the school site. They also highlighted possibilities and problems in using collaborative structures.