An internal
investigation
by the Minnesota State Academies for the Deaf and the Blind found that Superintendent Terry Wilding circumvented a union contract’s process following a claim of nepotism that occurred last summer. In addition to attending various trainings and meeting with union leadership across the campuses, the MSA Board of Directors decided Wednesday morning to review its policies on nepotism and out-of-state travel, as well as the Academies’ organizational chart and the schools’ relationships with outside organizations.
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 5 Local 607 Field Representative Matt Slinger was among the only union reps at the meeting on Wednesday, where the Board decided if the superintendent would face repercussions. “So, our contract language, we have 21 days from the time that we know that the contract is violated to file a grievance,” he said. “This was kept under wraps until that contract language was expired. So therefore, we could not pursue it. We’re thankful that this investigation happened. So that way, there was some repercussions to that contract violation that did occur, that was kept from us.” The investigation In July 2023, the State Academies were preparing to bring students and non-students who are deaf to Camp UBU in South Dakota for a special trip over the summer. The summer camp is for youth who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. According to notes from his interview with the investigator, Wilding was determined to secure transportation to the camp because he wanted to foster positive relationships between MSA families and possibly attract students during a time of low enrollment . The union-negotiated contract states that “pick-up hours,” or extra work opportunities, should be offered to all relevant employees and awarded based on seniority among the pool of interested workers. Wilding gave the job to his son, and admitted this was a mistake. “Clearly, the process of planning that trip was not organized well,” Wilding said Wednesday morning. “There was a lot of last-minute planning and some assumptions made that led to this problem … My son was involved, trying to be helpful, but it did create a perception that I was micromanaging and trying to find a driver.” According to a report from the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office, Wilding’s son admitted to bringing marijuana to the camp after some was found in his backpack he left in a maintenance shed. Those charges were dropped in October, and Wilding’s son was terminated from his employment at MSA. The investigation made no mention of the incident, and it’s unclear whether the substance was transported in the state vehicle driven by his son. Wilding said the requested another employee take the lead on compensating his son, due to the conflict of interest. However, a second driver in a second vehicle was not compensated until some time later, which the investigation asserted in its conclusion. “Ultimately, Tyrel Wilding was compensated and another MSA employee involved in facilitating the transportation to Camp UBU, albeit not as the driver of the MSAD Suburban, was not compensated,” reads the report. The Board made it clear they were not looking to fire Wilding over the incident. “Obviously we need to learn from our mistakes,” Board Chair Katie Wanberg said. “This is unique. A last-minute situation caused this. But how do we improve?” Instead, the board chose to assign some training to him and review a number of policies over the next six months. They also voted for Wilding to give monthly updates on his training at board meetings during this timeframe, and meet with union leaders to discuss policy and procedure.
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