Marlboro Superintendent Michael Brooks was honored at his recent retirement party by his family, friends, teachers and colleagues.

Brooks decided to retire after being in field of education for more than 33 years, starting out as a classroom teacher and ending his career as the Superintendent of Schools for the Marlboro Central School District.

Brooks described how he arrived at his decision to retire.
“I think it was one of those moments where you realize that you’re able to retire, so you do,” he said. “I like working and I’m a hard worker and I’m always all on. I just looked at it as it’s time, I have the years in, I have the ability and I’m young. It’s time to start doing something else. This will be the first September that I won’t be in school since I was five; there will be no school bells or schedules.”

Brooks expects to tend to his garden, will be tinkering around the house, spend time with his family and fellow retired friends and begin planning some trips.

Brooks two daughters are now out of the house and working in New York City.

Brooks said his time serving as the Marlboro Superintendent was “spectacular.”

“We had turmoil obviously when I came in. There were tough moments, finances were struggling, there were questions about where are we with academics and where is our north star. We identified that north star and pointed at it and stayed focused on it,” he said. “Finances are strong and we now have money in the bank, our S&P rating is A+ and our academics are in a great place.”

Brooks said a school district must ensure that they are teaching the right things well.

“All the other stuff is fluff, that’s on the outside. One of the things we have to teach at the core is, do them well and keep the kids focused,” he said.

Brooks said often a school district is caught between a rock and a hard place to meet the ever-changing state education requirements but, “the teachers know where we have to go, we just have to keep on pushing and charging toward that.”
Brooks concluded the interview by saying, “Marlboro is a great place, it’s a great community; it just is and I will miss it greatly.”