In a widely expected move, new Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos tapped a high-ranking education official Friday to lead the New York City public school system’s work engaging with families and the broader city.
Cristina Meléndez, deputy chancellor of the renamed Division of Family, Community and Student Empowerment, is stepping into the role Aviles-Ramos held before her promotion in October. Her appointment is effective immediately with an annual salary of $275,126.
In choosing Meléndez, the chancellor elevated an official with experience in parent engagement during an election year for Community Education Councils, the city’s modified version of school boards. Meléndez led the division’s Office of Family and Community Empowerment, or FACE, since the start of the Adams administration, overseeing the last CEC elections in 2023, along with efforts to give families access to literacy materials amid a citywide overhaul of how public schools teach reading.
Under a system where the mayor controls the public schools, the boards are mostly advisory, though may set the tone for key education issues.
In a low-turnout election last cycle, a coalition pushing for more selective schools captured a significant foothold on the Community Education Councils, and in Manhattan its endorsed candidates passed a controversial resolution against transgender students in girls sports. Two board members, including the lead sponsor of that resolution, parent Maud Maron, were removed by the school system from their seats, until a federal judge ordered Maron reinstated.
Some of Meléndez’s responsibilities are different from those of her recent predecessors, though she will receive the same salary. Previous deputy chancellors of the division oversaw communications and intergovernmental affairs as recently as October, according to an organization chart. Spokespeople for the school system said those offices are not under Meléndez’s oversight, but declined to say where they moved.
Instead, Meléndez will be tasked with leading the Office for Community Supports and Wellness, which covers community schools, students in temporary housing, health and wellness programs and attendance initiatives. Those teams used to fall under the purview of Deputy Chancellor of School Leadership Danika Rux.
“Family and community empowerment is an essential body of work and one of my top priorities as chancellor, and I have full confidence that Dr. Meléndez is the right leader for this job and this moment,” Aviles-Ramos said in a statement.
Meléndez graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and two master’s from Columbia University Teachers College in organizational leadership and bilingual education, before getting her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in Latino parenting practices. She was hired by the New York City school system as a Bronx elementary school teacher in 2002, going on to rise through the ranks as a teaching coach and assistant principal.