Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos did not show up this week to an educational panel that resolved to welcome and serve migrant students — raising speculation about pressure from Mayor Adams, sources told The Post.
Aviles-Ramos surprisingly skipped Wednesday’s meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy, when it unanimously passed a resolution re-affirming a commitment to embrace and protect all students and families “regardless of immigration status.”
Aviles-Ramos had a “scheduling conflict,” officials said.
One source said City Hall instructed the chancellor not to attend the meeting or issue a statement on the resolution, apparently to avoid antagonizing the Trump administration.
The PEP meeting came after Adams said the city will “coordinate” with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following a flurry of Trump’s executive orders.
Adams said the city is still “analyzing” the order to lift a longstanding ban on immigration raids in “sensitive” areas including churches and schools.
The PEP, which is made up of appointed and elected parents, urged the city Department of Education to provide staff training on immigrant rights, and to reaffirm that school safety agents, under NYPD supervision, “will not participate in federal immigration enforcement activities.”
On the chancellor’s absence, PEP chairman Greg Faulkner told The Post, “I think they were concerned about how it would be viewed.”
But Faulkner, a mayoral appointee, said he knew of no City Hall pressure on the chancellor to withhold her stance.
The non-binding resolution passed unanimously with 18 votes, including 11 by mayoral reps.
Naveed Hasan, the elected Manhattan member who co-sponsored the resolution with Faulkner, said, “I have no reason not to trust her. I do have reason not to trust the mayor.”
The mayor has a “personal conflict of interest,” he claimed.
Adams’ hope for a pardon from President Trump on bribery and fraud charges “would cross any human being’s mind when they’re trying to save themselves,” he added.
“He cannot ethically remain the mayor.”
The DOE attributed a statement to Aviles-Ramos: “New York City Public Schools is committed to serving every student, regardless of immigration status, national origin, or religion. We are grateful for our partners in the Panel for Education Policy who are in lockstep with us in this commitment.”