Dr. Michael McLymore, Sr. to Retire from NECSD

By Journalist Dr. Ms. Jones

NEWBURGH – “I think it’s my season at this time to retire,” said Dr. Michael McLymore, Sr., Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at the Newburgh Enlarged City School District (NECSD) who is set to retire on August 30th. “I’ve given a lot to the district. I’ve done my best. You know when it’s time to move.”

McLymore served the district for 35 ½ years and only missed five days work since 1999 when he had Covid-19. He has ensured that staff receive health benefits. He has worked with Finance to save the district thousands of dollars and he’s dealt with problems with employee paychecks. He’s talked with employees way up until nine o’clock at night if needed.

“That kind of information we don’t share. It is just a part of human resources. It’s being human,” said McLymore, who used to be Senior Pastor of Life Restoration Church in Newburgh and uses those people skills in HR. “It’s being interpersonal and dealing with people’s needs… People… have medical problems or family issues… It’s almost like church… Folk come to church and they come with a whole lot of issues. Well, so do people at work.”

McLymore did not begin his professional career in the district. He started in Corporate America at IBM in East Fishkill as a Quality Control Inspector for seven to eight years before deciding that he wanted to make more of an impact on people.

“I thought that I could do it by way of students. And so that created my desire to become a teacher and then move on up the ranks,” said McLymore who had to go back to school to SUNY New Paltz to get his masters degree in education and certification in Special Education/Correctional Education. “Shortly thereafter, I landed a job… It was a temporary job in Newburgh, which was an At-Risk Counselor, and that allowed me to deal with the at-risk youth. And I used to talk with the penal institutions, Eastern Correctional medium secure prison… and I used to have some of the inmates that were on good behavior come and speak to the students after school to try to deter them from going down that route, the prison pipeline. And that was successful for about a year. And then after that, I landed a job in special education.”

McLymore went from that position to a Special Education Teacher to Program Specialist to Assistant Principal to Principal. Then he landed a job in Central Office as Executive Director for Human Resources. He has also held the roles of Assistant Superintendent for At-Risk Populations and Community Relations and Executive Director for Family and Community Engagement.

“I thought I was going to remain Principal of Temple Hill until I retired. But, sometimes other people see in you what you don’t see in yourself because you’re too focused on being engaged in the work. They saw something in me, and that’s how I ended up in Central Office.”

He has seen a lot of changes in NECSD over the years. He has witnessed the curriculum evolve. He’s watched students graduate with an associate’s degree.

“They have more offerings now than anyone could ever imagine. When I was going to school, I was limited to what I could get into, but now they have a lot of CTE offerings… barbering… P-Tech… advanced placement exams. That was not even heard of when I was going to school… It gives [students] an opportunity to get ahead,” said McLymore.

After working for the district for over three decades, he will truly be missed. He will also miss many things, including educating and effectuating change.

“I’m going to miss working through complex problems that we’re trying to resolve. Be it with the unions, be it with the district, be it with curriculum, trying to get the right teachers in the right classrooms. I’m really going to miss that because that’s the aspect of the business where we’re there to resolve complex issues and the educational landscape is always changing. And so, we as educators have to remain flexible and adjustable so that we can meet the demands of an ever-changing environment. So, that’s the piece that I’m really going to miss. And in the process of that, you build relationships. It’s not that you go to work for friends, but in the process of working through these complex issues, you build relationships, but also make friendships, and so that’s what I’m really going to miss,” said McLymore. “I’m going to miss being a role model and just showing people that you’re there for a purpose and you fulfill that purpose and that is to help students get across the Academy field whether it’s directly or indirectly, and the lives that I touched, some of them students, some of them teachers. That’s more meaningful to me than the paychecks that I received.”