Board of Education
Independent School District 200
Hastings, Minnesota
An Organizational Meeting of the School Board of Independent School District No. 200, Hastings, Minnesota, was held on Monday, January 5th, 2026 at the Hastings Middle School Media Center.
The meeting was called to order by School Board Chairperson Carrie Tate at 6:00 pm.
The following board members were present: Philip Biermaier, Matt Bruns, Jessica Dressely, Carrie Tate and Mark Zuzek. Roll call attendance was taken by Mark Zuzek. Superintendent Wehrkamp Herman was also present. Elaine Mikel-Mulder and Melissa Millner were absent.
A motion to approve the agenda was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Matt Bruns. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
The next item of business was the election of officers to the School Board. The first office was Chairperson of the Board.
1st Nominee: Carrie Tate Nominated by Jessica Dressely
2nd Nominee: Mark Zuzek Nominated by Mark Zuzek
With no further nominations, the vote was as follows:
Voting for Carrie Tate: 3 - Philip Biermaier, Jessica Dressely, Carrie Tate
Voting for Mark Zuzek: 2 - Matt Bruns, Mark Zuzek
Having received the majority of votes, Carrie Tate was named as the Chairperson for the School Board of Independent School District No. 200 for 2026.
The next position open for election was the position of Vice-Chairperson of the Board.
1st Nominee: Jessica Dressely Nominated by Mark Zuzek
With no further nominations, the vote was as follows:
Voting for Jessica Dressely: 5 - Philip Biermaier, Matt Bruns, Jessica Dressely, Carrie Tate, Mark Zuzek
Having received the majority of votes, Jessica Dressely was named as the Vice-Chairperson for the School Board of Independent School District No. 200 for 2026.
The next position open for election was the position of Clerk of the Board.
1st Nominee: Melissa Millner Nominated by Jessica Dressely
With no further nominations, the vote was as follows:
Voting for Melissa Millner: 5 - Philip Biermaier, Matt Bruns, Jessica Dressely, Carrie Tate, Mark Zuzek
Having received the majority of the votes, Melissa Millner was named as the Clerk for the School Board of Independent School District No. 200 for 2026.
The next position open for election was the position of Treasurer.
1st Nominee: Mark Zuzek Nominated by: Jessica Dressely
With no further nominations the vote was as follows:
Voting for Mark Zuzek: 5 - Philip Biermaier, Matt Bruns, Jessica Dressely, Carrie Tate, Mark Zuzek
Having received the majority of the votes, Mark Zuzek was named as the Treasurer for the School Board of Independent School District No. 200 for 2026.
Chairperson Tate recognized the visitors in the room and those viewing remotely.
A motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Jessica Dressely and seconded by Mark Zuzek. With 5 ayes, 0 nayes, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to approve the 2026 School Board calendar as presented was made by Matt Bruns and seconded by Philip Biermaier. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to establish the Hastings Journal as the official district publication was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Jessica Dressely. With 4 ayes, 1 nay, the motion carried. Voting nay was Philip Biermaier.
A motion to approve the 2027 Combined Polling Places Resolution as written, waiving the reading was made by Jessica Dressely and seconded by Philip Biermaier. A roll call vote was taken by Mark Zuzek. With a vote of 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to authorize the Superintendent to perform the official responsibilities of the Clerk and Treasurer was made by Jessica Dressely. An amendment to the first motion to authorize the Superintendent or designee to perform the official responsibilities of the Clerk and Treasurer was made by Jessica Dressely and seconded by Matt Bruns. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to establish the 2026 board member compensation as follows: Board Chair $4,750/year and Board Directors $4,250/year was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Matt Bruns. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to establish that board members do not participate in benefits with ISD200 was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Jessica Dressely. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Jessica Dressely to approve the official district depositories as indicated:
Merchants Bank
General Receipts
Vermillion State Bank, Hastings/Vermillion
Activity Accounts
Minnesota School District Liquid Asset Fund/PFM Asset Management
Payroll & Finance Accounts,
Section 125 Flex Account
State Board of Investment
OPEB PERA Plan
US Bank
QSCB Escrow Account
With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to designate the Superintendent, Director of Finance and Operations, Finance Supervisor and Payroll/Benefits Supervisor to make electronic funds transfers was made by Matt Bruns and seconded by Philip Biermaier. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion was made by Jessica Dressely and seconded by Philip Biermaier to approve the Employee Recognition Dollar amounts for the 2025-2026 school year as indicated:
5 years
$30
10 years
$50
20 years
$50
30 years
$60
40 years
$100
45 years
$150
With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to approve the designation of capital asset thresholds $10,000 for individual items, $50,000 for group purchases and approve the annual fixed asset report per Policy 704 was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Jessica Dressely. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to delegate authority to the Superintendent and Director of Finance and Operations to sign contracts and enter into agreements in accordance with MN Statute 471.345 was made by Philip Biermaier and seconded by Mark Zuzek. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to delegate authority to the Superintendent and Director of Finance and Operations to enter into Joint Powers Purchasing Agreements in accordance with MN Statute 471.59 was made by Jessica Dressely and seconded by Philip Biermaier. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to designate the Superintendent to act as the Identified Official with Authority (IOwA) and the Director of Finance and Operations to act as the IOwA by proxy for Hastings Public School District 0200-01 was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Philip Biermaier. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to approve Kennedy & Graven, P.A. and Ratwik, Roszak, & Maloney, P.A. as district’s designated legal counsel was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Jessica Dressely. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to approve LB Carlson as district’s auditor was made by Philip Biermaier and seconded by Jessica Dressely. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion to approve facsimile signatures from the Board Chair, Board Treasurer, and Board Clerk on school district checks was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Philip Biermaier. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion was made by Carrie Tate and seconded by Jessica Dressely to approve 2026 school board committees and representatives and members appointed to those committees was made by as follows:
Policy Committee
Mark Zuzek, Jessica Dressely, Carrie Tate
Student School Board Representative Committee
Matt Bruns, Melissa Millner, Jessica Dressely
Facilities and Finance Committee
Mark Zuzek, Melissa Millner, Carrie Tate
Community Collaboration Committee
Elaine Mikel-Mulder, Matt Bruns, Philip Biermaier
Joint Powers Committee
Philip Biermaier, Melissa Millner, Carrie Tate
AMSD Representative
Mark Zuzek with Jessica Dressely as the backup
BrightWorks Representative
Matt Bruns
ISD917 Representative
Mark Zuzek
MSHSL Representative
Elaine Mikel-Mulder
Native American Parent Advisory Committee (NAPAC) Representative
Matt Bruns with Philip Biermaier as the backup
With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion was made to add liaisons to the following: Meet and Confer Committee and Wellness Committee was made by Carrie Tate and seconded by Mark Zuzek. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously. Discussion took place establishing details about these committees and liaison positions.
A motion was made by Jessica Dressely to approve Mark Zuzek as liaison to ISD917. Motion was rescinded by Jessica Dressely as it was already discussed previously in the meeting.
A motion was made by Carrie Tate and seconded by Mark Zuzek to amend the agenda by removing voting on the liaison positions: ISD917; MSHSL; AMSD; BrightWorks; and NAPAC as they were discussed prior and approved. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
A motion was made by Mark Zuzek and seconded by Matt Bruns to amend the agenda to remove Committee Membership Discussion and Liaison Discussions as they were discussed prior. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
At the conclusion of the organizational meeting business, a work session was held with discussions about: Superintendent Mid-Year Evaluation Summary; Dave Webb Homerun Leadership Facilitated Retreat; and ISD200 Legislative Priorities.
Future meetings were presented and discussed by Chair Tate.
With no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Jessica Dressely and seconded by Philip Biermaier. With 5 ayes, 0 nays, the motion carried unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:01 pm.
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