District employee tells board pay offer error was corrected, urges review of pay and leave policies

During the board’s public-comment period, Jeanette Shade identified herself as a district employee and community member and said she was hired with a pay offer that did not match the district salary schedule. "I found out that the district lied about the pay that they should pay me, and I had to fight for the pay based on the salary schedule," Shade said, and she told the board her pay was subsequently restored after she invoked a contractual dispute process.

Shade said she began employment on Oct. 30 and that her initial email offer arrived in mid-October. She told the board she used item 10 of her contract to dispute the pay within 30 days; district staff member Amy Cram researched the issue and helped have her pay adjusted to the correct salary-schedule amount. Shade said Cram also told her she would audit pay for other employees in similar positions, and Shade asked the board whether that audit had been completed.

Shade said she is a data specialist and a student achievement specialist at Queen Creek High School and said she and others in that job classification believe they are not being paid according to the salary schedule. She also described having pay docked after taking time off for an emergency; she contrasted the district’s practice with her experience in prior districts where employees earn leave and only incur deductions after exceeding a set number of days. Shade said she emailed each board member and that only one, Mr. Riffey, replied and offered to meet.

She asked the board to review board policy 4-302 and the district’s practices for applying leave and pay deductions. Under the board’s public-comment rules — as announced at the meeting and consistent with Arizona open-meetings law — the board cannot act on matters not on the agenda but may direct staff to study issues raised. The board did not take action on Shade’s request during the meeting.