Last Wednesday the Marlboro Central School District kicked off the 2019-20 school year. Superintendent Michael Brooks said kids coming back to the campuses was a welcome sound.

“The beginning of each year is so exciting for the children; seeing them come back to the hallways brings our school back to life,” he said. “Looking at how they are going to develop their future each year is just such a wonderful experience for each of them as you watch them, wide-eyed, walking in our doors.”

Brooks said the kids returning reminds him of his own time in school.

“As you see that you kind of remember your own time when you were in school,” he said. “It’s exciting seeing the little ones go into school and the big ones too.”

Prior to his career in administration, Brooks was a Middle School science teacher for 11 years.

Last Thursday Brooks and the school board met at the Middle School and before darkness fell they walked out to the playing field to discuss what future upgrades might be needed in this area of the facility.

“I wanted make sure the board saw the space before we started talking about it because once you’re out there you can get a feel for what the space is and what it’s not,” he said. “Now as we go through the fall we’re going to spend some real time looking at it, talking with our architect, talking with our leadership team and the board, saying this is what we have, what is it we want it to become and how do we get there.”

Brooks said any work in this area is separate from the Vision 2020 Capital Project that voters approved last May. He said the NYS Education Department funds certain infrastructure projects for schools that has a $100,000 limit.

“You get your full aid on that $100,000 project the next year so you don’t have to spread it out over 10 years, you get it immediately,” he said, adding that in the past this funding was used to pay for HVAC work that was done at the Middle School. “This year we’re contemplating what’s the $100,000 project we’ll do this year; we haven’t really landed on it yet.”

Brooks said one suggestion is to replace the rusting perimeter fencing, estimated at $80,000.

“We’re exploring that with ourselves administratively and then we’ll talk to the board about options,” he said. “We have to make sure that whatever we do is long-lasting.”