The field is set for the Hastings School Board election, with five candidates seeking three available seats in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election.
The filing period closed July 28, and the deadline for candidates to withdraw passed July 30 without changing the field. Incumbents Carrie Banaszewski Tate, Jessica Dressely and Mark A. Zuzek will be joined on the ballot by Melissa Kinneman and Kendal Larson.
All five candidates are running for four-year terms. Voters may select as many as three candidates, with the three highest vote-getters earning seats on the seven-member board.
Tate filed July 14, the opening day of the filing period. Dressely and Zuzek filed July 15, Kinneman entered the race July 20 and Larson filed July 21.
The three seats are elected at large, meaning candidates do not represent separate wards or geographic sections of the district. Eligible voters throughout Independent School District 200 may participate in the race.
School Board members establish district policies, approve the annual budget and hire and evaluate the superintendent. They also make decisions involving educational programs, facilities, staffing priorities and the district’s long-term direction.
Here is an early look at the five candidates, presented alphabetically, based on public records and information available as the campaign begins.
Carrie Banaszewski Tate
Carrie Banaszewski Tate is seeking a second four-year term after winning election to the School Board in 2021. Tate led that seven-candidate field with 3,358 votes, receiving 19.31 percent of the votes cast for candidates. A Hastings native and graduate of the district, she currently serves as chairperson of the seven-member board. Her 2026 assignments include the Policy Committee, Facilities and Finance Committee and Joint Powers Committee. Tate’s first term has included changes in board membership, budget and policy discussions, and a superintendent search that resulted in the selection of Kristine Wehrkamp Herman in 2025. As chairperson, Tate served as the board’s public point of contact during the final stages of that search. Her reelection bid gives voters an opportunity to evaluate her first-term record, her leadership of the current board and her role in guiding the district during the opening years of a new superintendent’s administration.
Jessica Dressely
Jessica Dressely is also seeking a second term after earning one of three available seats in the 2021 election. Dressely received 3,082 votes, or 17.72 percent of the candidate vote. She currently serves as vice chairperson and was selected unanimously for that leadership position during the board’s January organizational meeting. When she first ran for office, Dressely cited more than a decade of experience in parent-teacher associations. She and Zuzek later received the Minnesota School Boards Association Director’s Award, which recognizes board members who accumulate at least 100 points by attending training programs during their terms. Dressely’s current assignments include the Policy Committee and Student School Board Representative Committee. She also serves as the backup representative to the Association of Metropolitan School Districts. Her first term has included superintendent searches, budget decisions, policy debates and significant changes in the board’s membership. Voters will now decide whether to return her to the board for another four years.
Melissa Kinneman
Melissa Kinneman filed for office July 20 and is one of two candidates who do not currently serve on the School Board. Kinneman holds Master of Social Work and Licensed Graduate Social Worker credentials. She works through Canvas Health as a clinical trainee providing school-based mental health services at Pinecrest Elementary School and Hastings Middle School. Her professional biography states that she works with children ages five through 14 and has more than 20 years of professional and volunteer experience with children and adolescents. Her previous experience includes volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters, working with adolescents in the juvenile justice system, serving children in a level-four federal setting school, working as an in-home skills practitioner and serving as a children’s mental health case manager and therapist. Her early campaign materials have emphasized listening, inclusion and hearing from a broad range of community members. Her professional background would bring direct experience with student mental health, behavior, family needs and support services to the board.
Kendal Larson
Kendal Larson filed July 21 and is the second candidate seeking to join the board rather than retain a current seat. Public information about Larson’s background and campaign remains limited during the opening weeks of the race. In announcing his candidacy, Larson described himself as the son of educators and said he has spent a lifetime teaching in a variety of positions. He presented those family connections and teaching experiences as his motivation for seeking a place on the School Board. Larson does not have a voting record on the current board, and detailed information about his professional history and positions on district issues had not yet been published as the filing period ended. His entry, following Kinneman’s filing one day earlier, changed what had initially appeared to be an uncontested election into a five-candidate race for three seats. Larson’s early introduction to voters centers on his connection to education through his family and his own experience teaching in different roles.
Mark A. Zuzek
Mark A. Zuzek is seeking a full four-year term after winning a 2022 special election to fill a vacancy on the School Board. He currently serves as board treasurer and was selected unanimously to continue in that position during the January organizational meeting. Zuzek has an extensive background in school administration. He served as superintendent of Intermediate School District 917 from 2018 through 2021. Before becoming superintendent, he worked as principal of Hastings Middle School and as an assistant principal at South St. Paul High School. His current board assignments include the Policy Committee and Facilities and Finance Committee. He also represents the district with Intermediate School District 917 and the Association of Metropolitan School Districts. Zuzek and Dressely received the Minnesota School Boards Association Director’s Award for completing more than 100 points of board training. His candidacy gives voters a chance to consider his administrative experience, board service and work involving district policy and finances.
The five candidates will compete for seats currently held by Tate, Dressely and Zuzek. The successful candidates will begin their new terms Jan. 4, 2027, and serve until early 2031.
Absentee voting begins Friday, Sept. 18. Early voting, when voters may place their ballots directly into a ballot counter, begins Friday, Oct. 16.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. The district must canvass and certify the results by Friday, Nov. 13.
With the filing and withdrawal periods complete, the campaign now moves into its next stage. The three incumbents will be able to point to their records on the board, while Kinneman and Larson will have the opportunity to introduce themselves, explain their priorities and make the case for bringing new perspectives to district leadership.