Two high-ranking New York City education officials stepped down in quick succession Wednesday night, paving the way for Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels to name his top deputy and make other cabinet-level appointments.
A news conference was scheduled for Thursday morning. In an email to principals, Samuels wrote that he would be making an announcement related to the school system’s “organizational structure.”
The chancellor invited administrators to an optional webinar after the event to “elaborate on what this announcement means for our system and for your leadership,” read the memo obtained by the Daily News.
Samuels was selected as chancellor in the final days before Mayor Mamdani’s inauguration, leaving him little runway to appoint his own team before he took the reins of the nation’s largest schools system.
The new hires will be key to shaping Mamdani’s vision for the public schools, as the mayor has focused his attention on early childhood education as part of his broader affordability agenda. Samuels has offered up his own priorities for the system, including safe, academically rigorous, and truly integrated schools.
Isabel DiMola, who had been the acting first deputy chancellor since the start of this school year, announced her retirement Wednesday night, effective April 1, according to a goodbye email obtained by The News.
DiMola spent more than three decades in public education, starting as a Brooklyn social studies teacher and earning the respect of education professionals citywide as a beloved superintendent in School District 21.
“As I enter the next chapter of my life, I do so with immense gratitude for the experiences I have had as a New York City educator and leader,” DiMola wrote. “I remain hopeful and excited for what lies ahead for our children and for our city.”
Danika Rux, the deputy chancellor and direct supervisor of the city’s 45 district superintendents, said she was transitioning to a senior advisor role in the general counsel’s office, according to a separate email from Rux.
Both memos, sent within an hour of each other, were first reported by independent journalist Susan Edelman.
Cristina Meléndez, the deputy chancellor for parent engagement, had stepped down at the end of last month.
