Melissa Aviles-Ramos was introduced by Mayor Eric Adams as the new schools chancellor at a news conference Wednesday.

Aviles-Ramos will take over on Jan. 1, 2025, after current chancellor David Banks retires on Dec. 31, 2024.

"She’s the right woman for the right time to continue the success of this administration and the team that stands behind us, beside us, and those who are siting in their seat. We are going to give her all the support she needs to succeed," Adams said at the news conference.

Aviles-Ramos currently serves as the deputy chancellor for family and community engagement, a position she assumed in July. She is the highest-ranking Latina and Spanish-speaking leader in the city's public school system.

Prior to her current role, Aviles-Ramos was chief of staff to Banks, a position she left in February to briefly work as a college administrator.

“I want you to see me as the symbol of stability, of commitment. We started amazing things in alignment with the mayor’s vision for New York City, and the chancellor’s vision and alignment with the mayor’s vision for New York City public schools. And I am here to tell you that my charge is to make sure we carry through on all of the bright starts and bold futures, all of the pathways that we’re building for our children, all of the bridges that we need to build between communities and families, because this is all in service of our children. So you have my commitment to be that chancellor,” Aviles-Ramos said at the press conference. 

Aviles-Ramos has an extensive background in education, having worked as a superintendent, principal and teacher within Bronx public schools during a 17-year career with the department.

As chief of staff, Aviles-Ramos played a role in managing the Department of Education’s response to the ongoing migrant crisis, earning praise from both Banks and Adams, as well as from many outside the administration.

"Those early successes are testaments of how hard she works and how she believes in the children of the city," Adams said. 

Banks announced his retirement in a statement on Tuesday, saying that he will step down on Dec. 31.

"I thank the parents across the system for entrusting me with their children. I thank the children of New York City because that’s the reason why I’m here, why I’ve been here. And everything that I tried to give — I've done my best. And you never get all of the things done, you never get all of the things done, but you get a lot done and you pass on the baton to the next person to continue the race. That's what life is all about. And I just want to say to all the people of New York, thank you so much for the opportunity to serve you," Banks said at the press conference. 

Banks, who was appointed by Adams in December 2021, made his announcement less than a month after his cellphones were seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He has stated that his lawyers have indicated he is not a target in the investigation.

His retirement follows a wave of resignations and announcements of impending departures from various members of the Adams administration in recent weeks.

Banks, who was at times defiant about the questions he has faced since the seizure of his phones, said after 40 years of working in public education, he was simply running out of gas.

“I leave with no regrets. I gave it everything that I had, and when you realize that you don't have that much more to give — I poured it all out. I did. I poured it all out," he said.

Banks and Adams said they decided Aviles-Ramos should be his successor months ago, prompting her to move back to the DOE over the summer.  

She recalled her own childhood, when her mother struggled financially to send her to Catholic school because the public schools in the Bronx were unsafe. She said she wants to ensure no parent has to make that decision for those reasons.

“We shouldn't have to move to different districts, and we shouldn't have to enroll our kids, and that is your choice, if that is what you decide to do, but it should not be, because New York City public schools is not an option," Aviles-Ramos said.