KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Five days after the Hickman Mills School District announced that Superintendent Yolanda Cargile was stepping down, she was announced Tuesday as the incoming superintendent of the Center School District.
Cargile will assume her new post July 1, 2020, according to a release from the Center School District.
“I am extremely grateful and honored the Center Board of Education selected me to serve as Superintendent beginning the 2020-21 school year,” Cargile said in a release from the district. “I look forward to working together to effectively serve children and families in the Center community. I am eager to learn the Center way and immerse myself in this unique organization and community. I join the district fully aware of the accomplishments of staff, teachers, administrators and the support of the Board of Education. I look forward to experiencing many more successes as a team in the years to come.”
The Center School District Board of Education selected Cargile from a field of more than 20 applicants after a five-month search process led by the search firm of Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates.
“Four of our six semi-finalists were currently sitting superintendents and had excellent qualifications,” Center School District Board of Education President Rebecca Lahann said in a release announcing Cargile’s hiring. “However, Dr. Cargile’s thorough preparations and deep knowledge of our district, her collaborative leadership style, her ability to navigate significant challenges and her active presence and visibility in schools and classrooms clearly were distinguishing differences. We are confident that her leadership will serve our school community exceptionally well and will make a powerful, positive difference to all of our children.”
Cargile — a Kansas City, Missouri, native and Ruskin High School graduate — will continue in her role as superintendent with Hickman Mills until an interim superintendent is appointed.
Cargile spent five years in the Hickman Mills district, including the last three as superintendent.
She was selected as the Missouri After School Network’s Outstanding Administrator of the Year in 2018 and recognized by the Missouri Association of School Administrators for an outstanding performance by a new superintendent in 2019, according to the Center School District’s release.
