Banks replaces 15 of 45 supts. in huge shakeup

City Schools Chancellor David Banks announced new superintendents for 15 of the system’s 45 districts Monday, capping off a monthslong bureaucratic shakeup at the city Education Department.

The reshuffling involved asking each of the city’s 45 sitting superintendents to reapply for their jobs, holding several rounds of interviews with department officials and community members, and expanding the superintendent role to include more oversight and training responsibilities.

“We promised our students bold action, and each of these leaders is prepared to step into this newly reimagined role of superintendent to deliver on that promise,” Banks said. “For families and community partners, each of these leaders understands that they will be held accountable for partnering with you to meet the needs of your community and improve the school experience of our students.”

Banks joins a long line of chancellors who have tried to reorganize the vast Education Department bureaucracy to make it more responsive and effective.

Banks’ plan included eliminating a bureaucratic layer of “executive superintendents” introduced by former Chancellor Richard Carranza to oversee district leaders, scrapping borough-based field support offices, and transferring their staff and responsibilities to superintendents to simplify the supervisory hierarchy and shift resources closer to classrooms.

He also introduced community town halls in the superintendent interview process to give parents a chance to directly interact with finalists for their districts.

The process has not been without controversy.

The department faced fierce pushback after eliminating some beloved incumbent superintendents — including veteran leader Phillip Composto of District 30 in Queens — from the process after the first interview.

The community uproar prompted education officials to change course and allow all sitting superintendents to continue on at least to the community town hall portion of the interview process.

But that didn’t spare some sitting superintendents from ultimately getting the ax.

Anita Skop, the longtime leader of District 15 in Brooklyn, will be replaced by Rafael Alvarez, who previously led District 7 in the Bronx.

That decision drew protest from Councilwoman Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblyman Robert Carroll, who called Skop an “excellent educator and beloved by D15 families.”

Composto, the Queens superintendent who was initially axed but reentered the interview process following community pushback, will keep his job.

All in all, 15 of the city’s 45 districts will get new superintendents, according to a Daily News review of the new appointees.