'Vote for Chris' divides Prior Lake

There are two takes on Chris Lind in the Prior Lake-Savage school district.

To detractors, Lind is a man who made a vindictive and successful run for the school board after he was fired for proselytizing to students on campus -- and the cause of last week's resignation of popular Superintendent Tom Westerhaus.

To supporters, Lind is a man of faith and integrity who provided a welcoming ear for students in trouble, someone whose love for children led him to seek a position on the board that fired him.

Six months ago, Lind had a little-noticed $13.36-an-hour job as a campus supervisor at Prior Lake High School. Now he's a central figure in an uproar over the role of religion in public schools and the fate of a well-liked district leader.

Lind's victory last week is also raising questions about what the community meant to say when it elected him.

"It will be a very difficult time ahead," said the Rev. Jim Barringer, student ministries pastor at Lind's church, Friendship Church in Prior Lake. "I think Chris will forever be marked as the person responsible for Dr. Westerhaus leaving."

The 44-year-old Lind said he was surprised by Westerhaus' decision, calling him an "incredibly successful" superintendent. "I think he's been very effective and very good. Honestly, I have always supported him."

Several hundred of Westerhaus' backers attended Tuesday's school board meeting, but they failed to change his mind about leaving. Westerhaus said that he can't imagine disciplining and firing an employee and then having to work for that person.

In a letter to staff announcing his intent to leave, he wrote: "The community has spoken through this election."

A legitimate firing?

Lind started as a computer lab supervisor at Prior Lake High School in 2002 but took over as a campus supervisor before the 2006-07 school year, keeping track of student behavior in hallways and supervising the parking lot.

He helped supervise a Bible study group at the high school, as well as start a chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

"I didn't want to be a role model, but I knew I was one, so I decided I better be a good one," Lind said. "My desire was not to be popular; my desire was for kids to believe in themselves."

Lind said that when students approached him about his Christian faith, he would tell them to meet him away from campus at Caribou Coffee.

"He was one of the friendliest faces at our school," said Trevor Hanson, a 2007 Prior Lake graduate. "He was a genuinely caring person."

The district and Lind have conflicting versions about what led to his firing.

While voting 4-2 to fire him, the school board detailed a pattern of increasing discipline against Lind, saying he spoke to students on campus about their sexual orientation and that one student overheard him telling another that it was "National Pick-On-Lesbians Day."

The district warned him about maintaining appropriate boundaries with students -- keeping separate the roles of supervisor and friend.

Lind said he was told by district officials that he couldn't talk to students, even away from campus, about values such as abstinence, even at Bible study in his Prior Lake home or in youth groups meetings at church.

"I can't say that I followed that directive," he said, "I didn't feel that, morally, I could."

School board member Dick Booth, who voted against firing Lind, said at the time that his firing could open the district up to legal action.

"I have my concerns that some of these documents and statements that we made are going to come back to haunt us," Booth said.

Lind, who ran for the board on a fiscal-responsibility platform, threatened to sue at the time and said just before the end of his campaign that it's still a possibility.

"I'm not really sure," he said. "Honestly, I don't know."

Interest in Westerhaus

According to Charlie Kyte, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, Westerhaus has already been contacted by districts, including Wayzata and Richfield, which have superintendents who are retiring.

Kyte said the issue is about the voters who elected Lind rather than Lind himself.

"It's the fact that the community would do this," Kyte said. "[Westerhaus] is just saying, 'How can a community elect a person to the board ... that was [deemed] not appropriate to be around children and was disciplined and asked to leave the district?'"

Lind said he had wanted to run for the school board for three years but couldn't while he was an employee. He takes offense at the district's characterizations of him, saying that accusations of having "inappropriate" relationships harms his reputation.

He taught for two years at Edward D. Neill Elementary in Burnsville and for two years in New Prague. He is currently licensed as a substitute teacher.

"Chris is trying to do the right thing," said Barringer, the youth pastor. "I think his heart is to help, to not give up on this community, to not give up on the students. ...

"I don't think the vote was for 'no confidence' in Dr. Westerhaus, I think it was a vote for Chris Lind."

Outside Tuesday's school board meeting, some Westerhaus supporters said they didn't want to speak ill of Lind, who attended the meeting but did not speak there, but would dearly miss the superintendent.

Jackie Underferth of Prior Lake was more outspoken. "I wouldn't trade one Tom Westerhaus for 10,000 Chris Linds," she said.

Emily Johns • 612-673-7460

Emily Johns • ejohns@startribune.com