New York City’s incoming schools chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said she wants to get to the root of why so many students are missing class, amid new data demonstrating a statewide absentee crisis and a class action lawsuit that claims the city is failing to provide sufficient educational access to students with mental health issues.
Speaking in a conversation with Mayor Eric Adams on his WBLS 107.5 radio show Sunday, Aviles-Ramos said she knows first-hand about the “barriers” keeping kids from school because of her experience growing up in the Bronx and struggling to afford essentials like food and clothing.
“Sometimes we didn’t know where our meals were going to come from. The community helped us get coats and food,” she said. “So we need to figure out what those barriers are and work family-to-family and help bring the kids to school.”
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