WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — Williamsville School Taxpayers Association leader Jonathan Rich say he has spoken recently with Dr. Scott Martzloff, who is, in essence, in exile after the school board's move to replace him with acting Superintendent Dr. John McKenna.
Rich told 2 on Your Side that "he obviously is in a tough position because he is being investigated and so he does have to share only what he feels he can share. But I will say that he's sad about what happened. He is not just in this district for the paycheck. Right, he's in the district for the kids. His kids are in the district."
And while those are Rich's strictly personal comments about Dr. Martzloff, he does question his removal during a hastily called board meeting on September 7. Back then we asked Board President Teresa Anne Leatherbarrow this question about Dr. Martzloff, who is still being paid his over $230,000 salary along with a similar amount for McKenna.
We specifically asked Leatherbarrow then: "Can you say if he has tendered his resignation at this point or if you sought it?"
She replied, "We did seek it. It did not go that way."
So now Dr. Martzloff is under investigation by a legal firm brought in by the board for what they called a breakdown in communications and leadership related to his handling of the school reopening plan under COVID conditions.
Dr. Martzloff told The Buffalo News that he felt his removal was "overly harsh, emotional, and reactionary" and he "didn't feel it was just."
Dr. Martzloff also spoke of how he was told originally they did have sufficient teaching staff to run the hybrid program. But then in a fast turnabout, Dr. Martzloff says he was informed by McKenna, who was the assistant superintendent for human resources covering personnel and hiring, that they did not.
Dr. Martzloff told The Buffalo News, "Curious isn't it?"
Also in the published account, he said it was difficult to put together a school reopening plan balancing safety and education while trying to please everybody and that districts across the state were struggling to do so.
So now Dr. Martzloff may have an ally in the the taxpayer association. The group has an online petition seeking to add to its estimated 3,000 members and to get three candidates to challenge board members next spring.
They also question what they feel is undue influence on the board by the Williamsville Teachers Association, as well as cost factors. Rich says, "There's been immense pressure from different organizations to take control of our school board for the sake of special interests."
He adds: "Our per student costs are relatively reasonable compared to other districts but our per taxpayer costs are very high. And so we have 50,000 taxpayer-voters who should have more of a say in how that $200 million is being spent."
We were not able to reach Dr. Martzloff or Leatherbarrow independently. Also neither the school district nor Williamsville Teachers Association President Michelle Licht have responded with any comment so far.
