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New York City schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced his top deputies Thursday, replacing some of the system’s top leaders while keeping several others.
Of his 11 cabinet members, all have deep roots in the nation’s largest school system — and six are staying in the roles they assumed under the previous administration.
Samuels named Danielle Giunta as first deputy. She will helm his cabinet and oversee a slew of key areas, ranging from academics to district leadership, including managing two newly created roles of supervising superintendents. One will supervise elementary and middle school superintendents and another will oversee high schools and alternative program superintendents.
“I spent two decades of my career in roles across NYC public schools — from math teacher to principal to superintendent — and I’ve seen many iterations of our organizational chart, iterations that often lacked cohesion, efficiency, and clarity,” Samuels told a packed audience at the Education Department’s Lower Manhattan headquarters. “I needed to make some structural changes.”
The changes Samuels announced on Thursday do not completely overhaul the system’s leadership. Simone Hawkins, the deputy chancellor of early childhood education, will keep her position — a key post as Mayor Zohran Mamdani prioritizes universal child care and shoring up the prekindergarten system. Kenita Lloyd will stay in her role as chief of staff, which she held under former chancellors Melissa Aviles-Ramos and David Banks. She previously worked with Banks to support the Eagle Academy network of public schools, which he helped launch.
Lloyd compared herself to a professional basketball player changing teams.
“The coaching philosophy shifts, culture evolves, and expectations have risen, yet the responsibility remains the same,” she said. “Elevate performance, protect the star, and help the team win.”
It remains to be seen whether Samuels will make other structural changes.
Former Chancellor Richard Carranza added a new layer of executive superintendents. Banks scrapped those positions and required all of the city’s local superintendents to reapply for their jobs.
Here are the new faces in Samuels’ cabinet.
First Deputy Chancellor: Danielle Giunta
As first deputy, Giunta will oversee district planning, enrollment, new school development, and policy as well as academics and instruction, with the two supervising superintendents, one for elementary and middle school, and the other for high school and alternative programs, reporting directly to her.
Giunta most recently served as the chief of school leadership development, tapped by Banks to fill that new role. Prior to that she spent about a decade as the superintendent of District 26, a high-performing and affluent part of Queens that includes Bayside, Douglaston, and Little Neck. She was a principal at P.S. 154 in Flushing.
Supervising Superintendent of Elementary and Middle Schools: Maribel Torres-Hulla
Supervising Superintendent of High Schools and D79: Alan Cheng
In these newly created roles, Torres-Hulla and Cheng will oversee the implementation of the city’s curriculum mandates, NYC Reads for literacy and NYC Solves for math. They will oversee work around career readiness and apprenticeship programs. And as the state is changing graduation requirements, the high school supervising superintendent will have a massive job helping schools figure out how to shift their practices.
Torres-Hulla, born in the Bronx and raised in Brooklyn, rose through the ranks from elementary school teacher to literacy coach, assistant principal, principal, deputy superintendent, and superintendent of the Bronx’s District 10. Most recently, she served as chief of school support, working with superintendents of 18 local school districts across Brooklyn and the Bronx to help them align instruction with citywide initiatives.
Cheng’s career has had a similar trajectory, starting as a math teacher and working his way up as a principal, deputy superintendent, and superintendent. He most recently has served as senior supervising superintendent of high schools and District 79, which include alternative programs such as those in hospital settings, juvenile justice, or adult education.
His high school portfolio included international schools — serving newcomer immigrants — and consortium schools, which require students to do performance-based assessments, such as capstone projects or other presentations rather than Regents exit exams, potentially serving as a model as the state overhauls graduation requirements.
Former Deputy Chancellor for School Leadership Danika Rux previously oversaw all superintendents; she will no longer have a cabinet position and will advise the office of the general counsel. Samuels, who previously served two tours as local superintendent in Manhattan and Brooklyn, said the new roles are meant to help support superintendents as they navigate reading and math curriculum overhauls and implement a new set of graduation standards in the coming years.
Deputy Chancellor of the Division of Family Partnership & Community Support: Flavia Puello-Perdomo
Attendance, students in temporary housing and foster care, language access, school wellness and counseling programs, and community schools providing wraparound support will be among the areas that Puello-Perdomo will oversee. She will also be in charge of Family and Community Empowerment, or FACE, the office that supports parent leaders on parent-teacher associations, school leadership teams, and Community Education Councils — along with running the elections for these councils, which have been plagued by low turnout.
Puello-Perdomo most recently served as the chief of schools for the office of community supports and wellness where she worked across agencies to support community school programs, students in temporary housing and foster care, after-school, and summer programs. She also focused on attendance initiatives.
Deputy Chancellor of the Division of Finance, Administration, & Human Resources: Michael Cheatham will serve as acting deputy chancellor until June, when Lindsey Oates takes over
This role will be responsible for administrative services, finance, human resources, and procurement.
Cheatham previously served as a senior advisor to the chancellor and chief financial officer and as senior executive director and acting chief of finance and human resources for the Division of School Leadership. He’s currently also the Education Department’s interim chief savings officer, a role Mamdani established to find cost-efficiency strategies.
Oates previously served as the Education Department’s chief financial officer during the de Blasio administration. She’s currently the interim chief financial officer at the Legal Aid Society.
Here’s who is returning to their former post.
Chief of Staff Kenita Lloyd. Lloyd joined the Education Department as a deputy chancellor of family engagement under Banks. She was elevated to the chief of staff role in 2024, and Samuels is keeping her in that role.
Deputy Chancellor of the Division of Inclusive and Accessible Learning Christina Foti. The division oversees special education, multilingual learners, and District 75, a network of schools that serve students with more significant disabilities.
Deputy Chancellor of the Division of Early Childhood Education Simone Hawkins
Deputy Chancellor of the Division of School Operations Kevin Moran
Chief of Safety and Prevention Partnerships Mark Rampersant
Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel Liz Vladeck
Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.
