The embattled head of New York City schools is expected to step down as Mayor Eric Adams’ administration contends with a leadership shakeup in the face of swirling federal investigations.
David Banks will retire from his post as the schools chancellor by the end of this year, sources said.
The chancellor had met with Adams in Gracie Mansion and informed the mayor of his plans to retire, sources said and according to his retirement letter obtained by The Post.
“During our meeting earlier this year, I advised you that I intend to retire at the end of this calendar year after ensuring the school year got off to a good start,” Banks wrote.
“I have decided to retire effective December 31, 2024, after dedicating nearly 40 years of service to New York City’s public schools.”
The resignation is the latest departure in the upper ranks of the Adams administration. On Monday, City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan announced he was leaving at the end of the year.
Banks was ensnared by the stunning round of Sept. 4 federal raids earlier this month that saw agents seize the devices of several top City Hall officials.
The FBI raided the Harlem home that Banks shares with his longtime partner, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, and confiscated both their cellphones.
They also seized the phones of Banks’ brother Terence Banks, a former MTA official-turned-consultant, and another brother, Philip Banks, who is Adams’ deputy mayor for public safety.
The Banks brothers are longtime family friends of Adams, who served in the NYPD with their father.
After the raids, David Banks claimed the feds had told him he wasn’t a target. He laughed off The Post’s questions about the investigation roughly a week after the raids and otherwise stonewalled related queries.
A few days later, Banks used his second State of the School address to oddly allude to his troubles by reading the poem “Invictus” – a writing that Nelson Mandela recited while behind bars.
“It’s the greatest poem that I know of because everybody can relate to it, because everybody goes through something,” Banks said.