Superintendent of Kansas City area district is resigning but she won’t say why
Hickman Mills schools Superintendent Yolanda Cargile sent an unexpected letter to parents and community groups that partner with the district announcing that she is leaving, but did not say when or give details as to why.
“After 3 rewarding years of serving as Superintendent of the district where I grew up and graduated, I made the decision to pursue another opportunity to further my growth as an educational leader,” Cargile’s letter said. “I will leave so many colleagues with whom I’ve worked and who helped guide our students to greater achievement and success.”
In a responding letter from the district’s school board, President Wakisha Briggs thanked Cargile for her service as superintendent and for serving two years as associate superintendent of student services .
She went on to say in the letter that ”in the coming weeks the board will select an interim superintendent to work with Dr. Cargile during her remaining time with us.” She said the board will hire a search firm “to assist in a national search for a new district leader.”
The board declined to respond further about why Cargile is leaving.
Cargile, through a district spokeswoman, said she was not available to comment beyond her letter.
Marissa Cleaver-Wamble, spokeswoman for the district, said Cargile is still with the district for now. And while the board response implies the superintendent might be leaving before the end of the school year, Cleaver-Wamble said “there is no timeline set” for Cargile’s departure.
Hickman Mills, one of two provisionally accredited districts in Kansas City (the other is Kansas City Public Schools), has struggled for years to raise district performance and student test scores to meet state standards.
In March of 2019 after announcing the district was in serious financial trouble, Cargile led a plan, approved by the board, to close two elementary schools despite community pushback. The closings, Cargile said at the time, would save the district just enough to meet its goal of cutting $5.5 million from its budget and bring reserves back up to 15 percent from the 8 percent they were projected to fall to this year.
Cargile’s plan also meant the remaining elementary schools would house kindergarten through fifth grade. Sixth-graders, who had been part of elementary schools, joined seventh- and eighth-graders at Smith-Hale Middle School. The Freshman Center closed at the end of last school year. Ninth-graders moved to Ruskin High School. The Ervin Early Learning Center became another elementary school, with pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
Cargile inherited the district’s financial problems when she took over as superintendent in 2017 after former superintendent Dennis Carpenter left to lead the Lee’s Summit School District. Last year, after clashing with the Lee’s Summit School Board over equity training, Carpenter resigned.
With Cargile onboard, the Hickman Mills district reported last year that for years the district had been spending more than it was bringing in and dipping into its reserve funds. The state recommends districts keep a 24 percent fund balance, enough to cover expenses for at least three months. But last school year, the reserves had dropped to 8 percent. Board members recommended the district increase reserves to 15 percent.
Cargile and the board in January 2019 attributed some of the district’s financial woes to a taxing assessment mixup with Jackson County involving Cerner Corp., which received a massive tax incentive to build a sprawling new office complex within district boundaries.
In her letter to the district, Cargile highlighted areas that during her tenure with the district were points of pride.
“Despite budget reductions, our district has been able to provide STEAM (Science, Technology Engineering, Arts & Math) and project-based learning training to our entire district team,” her letter said.
She also pointed to professional development opportunities for teachers, a full day Pre-K program, expanded career academies for middle school and high school students and “significantly improved attendance.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 2:05 PM.
