Fountain Hills Unified School District employee Pam Aister’s job hangs in the balance following a public hearing hosted out of the District Learning Center Friday.

The hearing stemmed from an incident that occurred during the 2013-14 school year on the Four Peaks/Fountain Hills Middle School campus, in which Aister allegedly violated multiple district policies in her involvement with a verbal altercation between students.

The local School Board voted during the summer to suspend Aister, with pay, pending the upcoming hearing to determine if she should be dismissed, face other disciplinary measures or be re-instated.

The hearing officer for the proceedings was Prudence Lee, agreed upon by Aister’s counsel, as well as FHUSD's representation. Aister’s counsel included attorney Brad Schleier and his paralegal, Cindy Anderson. Representing FHUSD was attorney David Pauole and Four Peaks/Middle School Principal Anita Gomez.

Now that both sides have presented their cases, Lee has 10 days (Sept. 22) to review all of the evidence and provide a recommendation to District Superintendent Tom Lawrence. From there, the Governing Board may vote to approve or reject Lee’s recommendation concerning Aister and potential disciplinary action.

See the Sept. 17 edition of The Times for a full account of the day's events.