A Jeffers Pond Elementary School teacher is threatening to sue the school district over her December suspension for a social media posting.

Fourth-grade teacher Brooke Zahn was suspended for seven days without pay by the Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools district for violating the district’s harassment policy by reposting an image in a Facebook group on Dec. 1 with the caption: “A family that is deported together stays together.”

In addition to the suspension, Zahn was ordered by the district to complete cultural competency training.

James Dickey, a lawyer with the Upper Midwest Law Center, said in a Feb. 10 letter to district superintendent Micheal Thomas and the school board that Zahn’s punishment was a violation of her free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. The letter claims the post, which originated on X, formerly known as Twitter, was a posting made by a private citizen within a private Facebook group called “Prior Lake Light Hearted Conservative Group.”

Dickey said the law center would file a lawsuit against the district on Zahn’s behalf if the district does not agree to reimburse Zahn for her missed work and issue her a public, formal apology by the end of February.

“Absent acceptance of [the] offer, we expect to promptly move forward with a lawsuit,” Dickey wrote.

Kristi Mussman, director of communications for PLSAS, told the News Compass on Feb. 19 that the district “does not comment on pending or threatened litigation.”

The school board next convenes on Feb. 24 for a work session. Its next regular meeting is March 10.