I feel like we are a bit under attack.”

Chair Carrie Tate

Contrasting to the usually empty seats before school board meetings, the Hasting Middle School library stood full of alumnae, parents and community members who came before the Wednesday, Feb. 26 regular meeting of the District 200 School Board to speak both for and against the sunsetting of Policy 100: Equity and Diversity. The board will vote on sunsetting the policy at the March 26 meeting, and appears poised to do so with three of the five members already agreeing to vote to sunset the policy at the previous work session.
Despite the policy coming up for review via the normal three-year policy review process from the school board’s policy committee, the issue has become a flashpoint for the school board and community as a whole. School board members referenced the volume of community outreach they had received over this issue, with Chair Carrie Tate saying “I feel like we are a bit under attack.”
Other school board members echoed the sentiment saying many community members had “assumed the worst” in the board and its members for their attempt to remove the policy, said Clerk Melissa Millner.
Policy 100: Equity and Diversity is based on the April 29, 2018 joint declaration with the city of Hastings called “All are Welcome.” The school board would later adopt Policy 100 in May 2021 by unanimous vote as a way of “formalizing that proclamation,” said former school board chair Kelsey Waits.
According to Policy 100: “The purpose of this policy is to establish a framework for the elimination of racism and bias, including cultural bias, as factors affecting student achievement and learning experiences, and to promote learning and work environments that welcome, respect, and value diversity.”
The policy defines diversity across 17 categories including race, culture, and ethnicity, and commits the district to “promoting and providing equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, facilities, and support,” and “advancing equitable participation in, contribution to, benefit from and enjoyment of learning and work experiences.”
The fight over the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy in Hastings echoes so many other conflicts over DEI playing out across the United States. It is a show of strength for the issues of national politics, especially those coming from the Trump White House, to trickle down to even the lowest levels of government. Various community and school board members both read from and referenced executive orders, letters from the Department of Education, and President Trump himself when deciding on the issue of sunsetting this policy. It is a direct line from national politics being a relevant cultural and financial factor all the way down to local policy.
ISD 200 alumna Teddy Tri spoke to exactly this point when coming before the board. She read from President Trump’s Jan. 29, 2025 executive order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” as to why she supported sunsetting the policy saying DEI language “seeks to divide us into groups we have no control over.”
Other speakers, like another ISD 200 alumna Colleen Youngquist, opposed sunsetting the policy. She referenced the importance of special education, an aspect of DEI that is often not part of the conversation.
“Having a policy that stands behind those comments is everything. Voting to eliminate this will make an impression on the community that you feel it isn’t important,” Youngquist said.
While Chair Tate has continued to say that policy 100 should be sunset with the new strategic plan filling that role, Youngquist seemed skeptical of the drafted plan: “I don’t believe we can count on a plan that isn’t revealed and isn’t finalized.”
Chair Tate brought up that replacement of Policy 100 with the new strategic plan first when the board came to discuss the sunsetting of Policy 100: “It’s very unfortunate to me that when we are talking about sunsetting this and replacing it with our strategic plan, that folks make the assumption that we aren’t here to support all students.”
Chair Tate called Policy 100 “fluffy language” with the intent to use the new strategic plan as stronger framework to guide the district. While the strategic plan is far from finalized, with community input to be solicited at the upcoming March 27 Community Collaboration Committee meeting, Tate referenced recent changes to the plan that she believed would fill the role of Policy 100 were it to be sunset.
Of the core pillars in the latest draft of the strategic plan, one has been changed from “engaged learners” to “academic excellence and equity” with the inclusion of pillars “staff support and retention,” and “safe and respectful learning environments.”
“I believe that these item that we are adding in, cover the intent of the diversity and equity policy,” said Chair Tate.
While the draft of the strategic plan includes language such as “targeted support for academic achievement growth for all students,” and “foster respectful cultures to promote responsibility and focused learning,” the draft lacks any reference of diversity or inclusion.
It was a point made explicit by Clerk Millner when it came to avoiding the threats of the federal government pulling funding due to the existence of DEI policy: “One thing that hasn’t been brought up at the table that definitely is a concern of mine is President Trump talking about if you have diversity, equity and inclusion in your school, we are going to take away federal funding. And someone asked me, ‘are you fearful of that?’ darn right I am,” said Millner.
When pressed, Superintendent Champa declined to comment on sunsetting the policy saying only “It wouldn’t be the time that I would be looking at it.”
Superintendent Champa made clear, however, that “the district’s declaration of equity is not in any way a violation of law.” In speaking with the district’s legal counsel, the law firm Kennedy and Graven, she affirmed that the Feb. 14 “dear colleague letter” from Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor that threatened loss of federal funding was not “a directive or an order.”
Superintendent Champa related the advice of the district’s legal counsel Greg Madsen who “suggested that additional time and thought be given to allow for clarity across the state because it is a time where there are just so many things coming and interpretation of what that might be.”
“I would hate to see an action because of uncertainty or fear whatever that might be,” said Superintendent Champa.
Suggestions of both waiting for more clear or legally binding directives from the federal government or the finalization of the district’s strategic plan to be in place before sunsetting Policy 100 were discussed at the meeting but decided against.
The board voted 4-2 to move forward with the sunsetting vote at the March 26 regular school board meeting. Directors Mark Zuzek and Matt Bruns were the dissenting votes.
“Whatever decision we make, I believe it needs to be made at the next board meeting,” said Director Philip Biermaier, continuing, “I can’t live with no decision.”
Two members of the board spoke in favor of keeping Policy 100: Zuzek and Bruns.
Zuzek railed against the term sunsetting: “Sunset isn’t an appropriate term, what we are really doing is cancelling or rescinding the policy. Sunsetting is something different: when something is completely fixed […] you don’t renew the policy because it no longer has any effect. Clearly, we understand that we still have achievement gaps. Clearly, we understand that there are still problems.”
Zuzek described Policy 100 as “the only policy that says what we are going to do proactively to make sure that equity and inclusion and diversity happen.” Zuzek referenced policies that would reactively apply in cases of bullying or issues of employment, but that policy sets the baseline for the district’s values.
Zuzek referenced how this policy would affect enrollment, a long-term goal of the district which has seen a nearly 500-student decrease over the past decade. “If you want to improve enrollment, we need to be a welcoming community,” said Zuzek. “This is a bigger deal than what some of you think.”
Bruns spoke to the work of the Native American Parent Advisory Committee (NAPAC) and in specific the resolutions presented to the board by American Indian Education Program Director Keenan Humphrey earlier at the meeting.
“That’s direct advocacy from a group but it only exists because of statute. When I look at this list of 17 other protected classes, that is not a thing […] It charges us with have that perspective when it comes to resource allocation.”
Bruns echoed Zuzek’s sentiment that families could move away from the district were the policy to sunset. “Removing this policy sends more of a ripple through the community of the people who are already here and they will jump to 196 or South Washington. That is the movement I would be cautious of.”
The ISD 200 School Board will vote on Policy 100: Equity and Diversity at the March 26 regular school board meeting.