Principals Of Sharing

Rich Shea, Joanne Duffy Ages: 49 and 54. Job: Team principals

Long before Rich Shea and Joanne Duffy met, they had something in common: They needed a good night’s sleep.

He routinely awoke at 3 a.m., obsessing on life’s details. She was haunted by recurring nightmares.

Duffy and Shea, principals at local Catholic schools, blamed their anxiety on jobs that seemed bigger than one person.

Duffy’s days at St. Patrick School in Hillyard often stretched to 15 hours. Dinner with her daughter happened over the telephone.

Shea had moved to Spokane from Portland for a more relaxed lifestyle, but it didn’t work. Responsibilities at St. Aloysius School in North Spokane absorbed his spare time.

This year, the two grasped hands and leaped from the fast lane into the expanding world of job sharing.

Walk into St. Als before noon, and you’ll find Shea. But go after lunch and Duffy has taken his place.

Duffy, 49, was first to downshift by leaving St. Patrick for a part-time, vice-principal job at St. Aloysius. That’s when she and 54-year-old Shea, the school’s principal at the time, learned they shared ambitions. Both loved their jobs. Both wanted to love them at a more leisurely pace.

While some teachers in Spokane’s public schools share jobs, the trend has been slow to catch on among principals. Shea got the idea from a few schools in Portland that are experimenting with co-principals.

Duffy and Shea knew sharing an administrative job presented some extra challenges. How would they split duties? How would they keep each other informed of developments? How would teachers know who to approach with problems? How to collaborate without letting egos take over?

Duffy focused on another question: “What have we got to lose?”

This year, they pitched their plan to the school board and got a tentative go-ahead: Try it, but consider it a year-long experiment.

They started with a daily journal - a running to-do list - logging meetings and important conversations. They review it every day during a two-hour overlap time.

But the journal couldn’t bridge the gap between their very different personalities and management approaches.

“Rich is a pretty casual guy, and I’m a little formal,” said Duffy, in typical understated style.

The two are as distinct as their closets. Shea’s is filled with sweatshirts and khakis; Duffy comes to work in tailored, dress-for-success suits and matching shoes.

Shea chuckles when kids stomp through playground mud puddles; Duffy scolds them.

Shea’s the one who trained dozens of students to fall to their knees and bow whenever he walks in the classroom. Duffy watches and shakes her head.

Their different temperaments could have led to disaster. But when the principals began divvying up responsibilities, they naturally gravitated toward different duties.

Shea, a former counselor who loves drama and public speaking, leads morning prayers and gives the sales pitch when parents consider sending children to St. Als. He also handles most discipline problems.

Duffy, a former teacher, reviews curriculum and helps teachers plan lessons. When they need help handling classroom problems, they usually go to Duffy. She also oversees the school’s day-care workers.

Shea noticed a difference as soon as the school year began. “I am so much more relaxed this year,” he said.

Teachers heartily agree. “I mean, we’ve even slowed down the pace of our prayer,” said Jan Sackmann, who teaches first grade.

There are a few drawbacks, she said. “Sometimes, we don’t know who to go to. It’s ‘You tell him, I’ll tell her.”’

But the principals’ skills and talents are a nice blend, Sackmann said. “They complement each other best by giving each other time off.”

Slowing down didn’t come easily for Shea and Duffy, who are by nature ambitious people.

Duffy, a New York native, moved to Spokane with her husband, Pete, and daughter, Noreen, nine years ago. She’d already stopped working temporarily, determined to stay home with Noreen, then just a toddler.

But when she heard that St. Als needed tutors, she decided to volunteer an hour a day. A month later, when the principal asked if she’d work as a substitute teacher, she agreed. Just a few days a month, she told herself.

Then came a part-time vice-principal job and, before she knew it, she was St. Patrick’s principal, all her dreams of stay-at-home motherhood on hold.

“I had a little girl who didn’t get to see me some days,” Duffy said. “It broke my heart.”

Shea was struggling with similar problems. Before moving to Spokane 2-1/2 years ago, he and his wife, Jan, enrolled in a course called “Voluntary Simplicity,” aimed at helping people free themselves from hectic lifestyles.

They canceled cable TV. They stopped buying books and frequented libraries instead. They dropped magazine subscriptions, gave away clothes, decided against that new car.

But even after moving to Spokane, Shea realized he was as busy as ever, starting early at St. Als and ending with evening board meetings.

“I wanted to have more free time,” he said. “I wanted to have less responsibility.”

Now he has both and, although his salary was slashed, Shea believes the trade-off was worth it. He spends more time on the playground and less in the office. He goes home at lunch and takes walks with his wife.

At night, he and Duffy take turns going to various school meetings.

“The best part is having someone to share the responsibilities with,” Duffy said. “Otherwise, being a principal is a lonely job.”

While she promotes job-sharing, she advises people to consider potential partners carefully.

“Rich and I basically trust each other and I don’t think that happens very often,” she said.

“We’re pretty healthy in terms of ego and self-esteem. If someone chooses to go to Rich with a problem, I think it’s great.”

Cutting back on her work hours has changed her lifestyle, allowing her leisurely dinners with 11-year-old Noreen and her husband.

But it hasn’t cured all her woes. “I still have nightmares,” she said. “But not as many.”