Hood and Cox are assistant principals at
Desert Vista.

                                          4
cafeteria, as she had been directed in writing. When the lead security guard, Joe

Feinstein, attempted to deliver a letter to Avent she refused to accept the letter and

told him that, if anything needed to be given to her, it should go to her lawyer.

Later in the day, Cox attempted to speak to Avent, and she threatened to call the

police and have him arrested if he spoke to her. That day, the Tempe Union

Superintendent signed a Notice of Reassignment toHome for Avent. When Cox

attempted to deliver it to her, Avent refused to accept the written notice, which was

then read aloud to her, mailed to her home, and faxed to her attorney.

      Finally, on June 8, 2005, at the next meeting of the Governing Board, the

Tempe Union administration recommended that the Board rescind its offer to

extend Avent’s employment contract for the following school year. The

recommendation cites the events of May 13 and 17, 2005.4 Based on those events,

the administration determined that “Ms. Avent is unwilling to perform her assigned

duties . . . and is unwilling to respond to reasonable direction from her


      4
        Avent does not deny the events of May