As city schools Chancellor David Banks looks to shake up the Department of Education’s management, he promised to listen to parent input on hiring decisions for superintendents.

So it shocked parents in one Queens district to learn last week their popular superintendent, Philip Composto, was not a finalist to keep his job.

“Initially, we thought, ‘oh, fantastic, we’re gonna have a role in the superintendent rehiring.’ But then it becomes a bit of a false choice, or false advertising,” said Deborah Alexander, a parent and member of Community Education Council 30.

Now, the education department is walking back that decision — saying all sitting superintendents who have reapplied for their jobs will make it to the next round of the hiring process, which includes town hall meetings with parents.

“It’s the least that they could do. And that said, I’m glad they did the least that they could do because it just never occurred to anyone that he wouldn’t be a finalist,” Alexander said.

The change comes after parents, principals and politicians mobilized to support Composto. He and several other superintendents were notified their last day of work would be June 30th. Parents say he’s an accessible, successful leader of the district’s schools.

“This was such a shock to everybody because who would have thought after all these years without this support constant validation of our superintendent, but from various administrations?” Alexander said. “It was, it was just a gut punch.”

And the decision to cut him from the running before allowing the public to weigh in made promises of engagement from the administration feel hollow.

“Mayor Adams — I mean, the first thing he said with his mayoral control, he’s still going to go out to the community and do what the community wants. This is something that District 30 wants,” Valarie LeMour, a former CEC 30 president, said.

The city will hold town halls with parents for all forty-five superintendent positions for finalists will make their case for the job.

“I do hope that these engagement sessions are genuine and that they will be listening to the results of them,” Alexander said.

In a statement, Banks acknowledged that the decision to include all sitting superintendents came “after listening to community feedback.”

“Superintendents will lead our schools this fall with significantly expanded responsibilities and are tasked with making our vision for schools a reality. At the end of the day, it is the Mayor and I who will be held accountable for their impact on student achievement,” he said. “When I make the final determination of who will best serve all students in each district, that decision will combine the passionate feedback of parents and community members and each candidate’s ability to articulate a comprehensive vision for the future.”