Four months after being sworn in for his seat on the Prior Lake-Savage school board and almost a year after being fired from his job as a campus supervisor at Prior Lake High School, Chris Lind has decided to try to put the drama behind him.
Lind, who had been considering suing the district for wrongful termination for the past year, said through an attorney on Wednesday that he does not want to pursue the litigation.
Reached at home, he declined to comment beyond saying he's "choosing to forgive and move on."
Lind worked as a computer lab supervisor, then campus supervisor, at Prior Lake High School for five years. When voting to fire him last June, the school board detailed a pattern of increasing discipline against him, saying he spoke to students on campus about their sexual orientation and that one student overheard him telling another it was "National Pick On Lesbians Day."
At the time, Lind said he was told by district officials that he couldn't talk to current or former district students, even away from campus, about traditional values such as sexual abstinence.
Lind's case generated considerable attention in the community, and when he ran for school board in November he was elected. That caused Superintendent Tom Westerhaus, who had recommended Lind's firing, to announce he would leave the district at the end of the school year, saying he couldn't work for someone under those circumstances.
In December, Lind's attorney sent a letter to the district suggesting a monetary settlement to avoid a lawsuit. But during Lind's first meeting as a board member in January, the board voted 6-0 (Lind didn't vote) to refuse mediation with him or agree to pay money.
In a news release sent Wednesday, Lind's attorney, David Thompson, said: "I have advised Mr. Lind of his potential claims against [the Prior Lake-Savage district]. However, Mr. Lind has advised me that he does not want to move forward with litigation."
Officials with the school district did not return phone calls seeking comments.
Emily Johns • 952-882-9056
