Help Pick The Upper East Side's School Superintendent At Monday Event

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Dozens of public schools on the Upper East Side and across Manhattan may get a new superintendent this year — and neighborhood families will get the chance to help pick the new leader in a Monday town hall.

All 45 superintendents across the city were asked to reapply for their jobs this spring by new Schools Chancellor David Banks — a house-cleaning move that sparked controversy in recent weeks when some popular superintendents failed to advance to the next round.

In a backtracking move, the city is now allowing all current superintendents to stay in the running, alongside a handful of new candidates in each district. Now, each district will host a town hall, giving families to meet and ask questions of each finalist.

That includes District 2, which covers the Upper East Side, as well as much of Midtown and Lower Manhattan. Current superintendent Kelly McGuire has led the district since early 2021; the Department of Education has not publicly announced the names of any other finalists.

District 2's superintendent town hall will be held virtually at 7:15 p.m. Monday, with registration available online. (Click here for Spanish or here for Chinese.)

Each meeting will feature personal introductions from the candidates, written questions from the district's Community Education Council, and a chance for parents to ask additional questions and share feedback.

The citywide superintendent re-hiring comes as Banks plans to expand the role for the next academic year, with bigger budgets, more staff and added responsibilities.

Each finalist has already gone through a vetting process including interviews with principals and senior DOE leaders.

"Our children deserve leaders who are grounded in their communities and have a vision for how to improve schools, and I am proud that the group of candidates we are putting in front of parents represents those qualities," Deputy Chancellor of School Leadership Desmond K. Blackburn said in a statement.