Submitted Photo Former Minot State women’s basketball coach and former Surrey Public Schools athletic director Sheila Gerding calls out a play during a basketball game in 2017. MSU photo.

Sheila Gerding submitted a letter of resignation to the school board the evening of July 28, which was accepted during a special meeting the morning of July 29.

According to her letter, Gerding resigned from her roles as athletic director and Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) teacher, saying the recent allegations raised by a former principal, Tina Webb, in an exit interview, “created an environment among my colleagues that has left me feeling isolated, disrespected, and ultimately betrayed.”

“Her statements, which implied that I was not fulfilling my responsibilities, are not only inaccurate but also disheartening after the time, energy, and sacrifice I have given to this district,” she wrote.

Sheila Gerding rebuked many of the allegations from Webb’s exit interview, including statements that she bypassed Webb’s authority to make purchases, maintaining Superintendent David Gerding consistently directed her to communicate with Webb.

“If Mrs. Webb had concerns about how I was handling these matters, I would have appreciated clear communication and direction, rather than assumptions or misplaced blame,” Gerding wrote. “Rather than focusing on my impact, Mrs. Webb consistently tried to catch me doing something wrong. Her actions and exit interview have deeply damaged my reputation, making it nearly impossible to recover credibility among staff.”

Sheila Gerding also took issue with allegations related to her educational experience at Minot State University, where she was the women’s basketball coach for 22 years.

“This situation escalated when I learned that one coach even attempted to disprove my adjunct teaching experience at Minot State, an accusation that was both offensive and hurtful,” Sheila Gerding wrote. “This confirmed the level of distrust now surrounding me, a toxic atmosphere that no employee should be expected to endure. I can no longer work in an environment that has become hostile and undermines both my integrity and contributions.”

The issue around Sheila Gerding’s years of experience listed on her contract was raised in Webb’s exit interview. Webb wrote in her exit interview that she and elementary principal Tarra Hysjulien were contacted multiple times by the Central Region Education Association (CREA) business manager Melissa Elletson.

CREA was assisting the district’s new business manager with teacher payroll, and Webb wrote Elletson was reaching out due to multiple teachers who contacted her claiming they had been shorted years of experience. Webb wrote in her exit interview that Elletson said she was working with data provided by David Gerding, but he wasn’t available at the time to address the issue. Webb said while reviewing data from the previous school year and correcting the errors, she discovered Sheila Gerding’s contract, in which her years of experience jumped from seven years to 12 years of experience.

As Webb was Sheila Gerding’s direct supervisor, Webb wrote she and Hysjulien discussed the issue with then School Board President Ron Aberle and asked him to address it with David Gerding as they were concerned about how he would react.

Aberle would go on to speak with David Gerding, who then called Webb. Webb and Gerding provided conflicting descriptions of their phone conversation regarding the situation in their respective written narratives provided to the board, but Webb largely attributed her decision to resign to David Gerding’s alleged demeaning and hostile comments toward her.

“Him making that conversation personal to me was insulting; however, the bigger concern is that teacher contracts are paid from tax payer dollars. If dollars are spent incorrectly, it is the responsibility and duty of anyone who is in the know to report it/rectify it as soon as they have that awareness which is why clarification was sought by both principals meeting with Mr. Aberle on June 18th,” Webb wrote in her exit interview.

For his part, David Gerding said his primary complaint was Webb had overstepped her bounds by reviewing teacher contracts during a period when she herself wasn’t under contract.

During a July 16 Surrey School Board meeting, President Daniel Tyler identified specific questions from the board for David Gerding to respond to, including how Sheila Gerding’s contract was derived, and how coaching experience has been granted or denied for teaching contract purposes for any teacher.

In David Gerding’s response to the school board he wrote Sheila Gerding’s contract was determined based on past precedent, citing an instance in which a former teacher received credit for university level classes he taught. David Gerding wrote Sheila Gerding was awarded 10 years of teaching experience for six years of experience at South Prairie and 22 years of college level experience as a head women’s basketball coach at MSU, where she also taught a variety of courses at the university level upon request.

David Gerding wrote in his response he did not have information regarding whether coaching experience alone has been granted or denied for salary placement periods in the past but maintained he wasn’t the deciding authority in the determination regarding Sheila Gerding’s contract. David Gerding also wrote he did believe coaching experience can, in the right circumstances, qualify as experience for the purpose of such determinations.

Luke Schaefer, the chief executive officer of CREA, confirmed to The Minot Daily News the determination of whether experience such as coaching is factored into a teacher’s years of experience is made and agreed to by school boards and teachers during negotiations.

“In essence every board will decide what the package is. Once that package is determined, whether the business manager tracks it or the superintendent tracks it, they’ll record all of those things. It gets entered into payroll, and then they move on,” Schaefer said.

Sheila Gerding told The Minot Daily News she had taught a “methods of coaching softball and baseball class” while at MSU but was unsure of which years this occurred.

Based on records provided by Minot State University, Sheila Gerding was credited solely for varsity basketball, which is listed under the university’s catalog as Health Physical Education and Recreation 112, and did not teach any classes during her time at the university. Sheila Gerding maintained she had taught the class, saying she couldn’t explain why it wasn’t included in the information provided by the university.

“I taught that class. Coaching basketball was my contract at the time, and I’m not sure if I signed an additional contract for an adjunct class. All I can tell is that I taught, that there was a curriculum,” Sheila Gerding said. “The whole point here is this was not a David Gerding decision. This was a school board decision. Why they made that decision I don’t know. Coaching is teaching, and you can’t be a good coach without being a good teacher.”