Mayor Adams is expected today to announce top education deputy Melissa Aviles-Ramos as the next head of the New York City public schools, after Chancellor David Banks stunningly announced his retirement Tuesday amid multiple federal investigations into City Hall, multiple sources told the Daily News.
Insiders began floating Aviles-Ramos’ name as a possible replacement early Tuesday evening; spokespeople did not return a request for comment. A press conference was scheduled for the afternoon at Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice in Concourse Village, where Banks was a founding principal.
Aviles-Ramos, the current deputy chancellor of family and community engagement and external affairs, is no stranger to the Adams administration, which has come under a microscope amid the probes.
One of the investigations, sources have told The News, is looking into the business dealings of Chancellor Banks’ brother, Terence Banks, whose consulting firm represented multiple companies with financial interests before the agencies of his two brothers, including Phil Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety.
Aviles-Ramos worked closely with City Hall, two sources said, as the former chief of staff to Banks. In the position, Aviles-Ramos, who was the highest-ranking Spanish-speaker, coordinated the local Education Department’s response to the influx of migrants with 45,000 school-aged children.
She left the role earlier this year for a brief stint at a private for-profit college in the Bronx, but returned several months later as a deputy chancellor when the education official in that position — Kenita Lloyd, Banks’ former chief operations officer at Eagle Academy, the network of public schools for boys of color — became the chancellor’s chief of staff.
Before her cabinet-level positions, Aviles-Ramos was a veteran of the city’s public schools, joining in 2007 as an English teacher. She rose through the ranks to the role of a principal of Schuylerville Preparatory High School, before being promoted to a deputy superintendent and then acting superintendent, all in the Bronx.
In his resignation letter on Tuesday, Banks suggested he would provide support to the next chancellor. He is due to retire at the end of the year.
“Please know that I will do everything possible to ensure a smooth transition,” he wrote. “I am confident that NYC Public Schools will continue to grow, innovate and excel under the next Chancellor.”
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