Kansas City, Mo. ? The Kansas City School District will be looking for its 21st superintendent in three decades after the school board on Wednesday night declined to renew Bernard Taylor’s contract.

Taylor has led the district for 4 1/2 years. On his watch, court supervision of a 26-year-old desegregation case came to an end, and the district regained provisional accreditation.

But critics said the school district has made only modest academic gains, and that Taylor has often been abrasive.

“He stepped into a difficult situation,” board president David A. Smith said. “He can be proud of the progress made during his tenure … (but) this board has determined that new leadership is needed to continue and accelerate the district’s progress.”

Taylor’s contract runs through June, but the board was required to inform him by the end of this year whether it would be renewed.