WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — On Sunday, the Williamsville School Board held a special meeting about the superintendent's decision on Friday to have a delayed start for remote students in grades five through 12.
The meeting began at 11 a.m. and went until almost 1 p.m. About 1,100 people tuned into the Zoom meeting before there was a unanimous vote to move into executive session to further discuss the back to school plan and how the superintendent handled things.
During Sunday's meeting, Superintendent Dr. Scott G. Martzloff would give neither an exact start date nor a rough estimate as to when remote learning will begin for students who opted for the 100 percent remote option.
The school board had released a statement on Saturday about the decision, saying that it came as a surprise. It went on to say, "We sincerely apologize to the families that are impacted by this last-minute decision and we will work with the district to ensure students in grades 5-12 who are in the remote online learning model can start their school year as soon as possible."
In the meeting on Sunday, board members asked the superintendent questions about the remote learning delay, including why this is happening.
"We don't have enough teachers," Martzloff said on the delay.
Martzloff said that when the district was seeking a headcount about three weeks ago, about 30 to 40 teachers requested leave.
Now, 66 teachers have requested a leave of absence, and ultimately 15 of those teachers have decided to teach online. One school board member stated that 27 teachers have resigned before August.
Martzloff said that they are currently attempting to hire 21 teachers to fill the need — 15 high school positions and six at the middle school.
But according to other information 2 On Your Side received from parents, the district says they are in need of a total of 80 teachers to feel the remote learning void.
The board also asked if the superintendent had a plan B, to which he said “there isn’t a fallback," if new teachers aren't hired soon.
Dr. Susan McClary of the school board asked that if the district is waiting for new teachers, would those new hires be the ones teaching the online classes.
Martzloff said yes and added that those teachers will receive professional development and training as they begin teaching for the district this fall. Some teachers will start in the first week, after being hired this past week.
The decision seemingly came quickly, as Martzloff said that he left on Thursday thinking "the district was in a good place" regarding staffing and reopening.
Board members expressed that they did not understand how Martzloff was not made aware of the shortage before Friday. Martzloff said that those numbers aren't static, and that they can change.
Several parents, including Jim Sikorski and Jessica Fish, also say they do not understand how such a big decision could be made during a holiday weekend, two days before the start of the school year.
"To sit here and tell me that you have a plan for my kids when I'm paying my taxes and you don't have a plan for them, it's not OK by me," Sikorski said.
Jessica Fish, a graduate of the Williamsville School District and now a district parent said she is beyond disappointed in Martzloff's leadership.
"Today Dr. Martzloff actually said, wouldn't commit at all to a time period, but actually said that it could be a week, it could be two weeks, he said it could be six months," Fish said. "Six months? Are you kidding me? That's the school year."
Several board members made it clear that they too did not get notification of the decision until within minutes of the parent and media email announcement.
Board Member Mary Bieger said that she received the board notification after the email to parents. She expressed that board members would have liked to be notified much sooner, so they could discuss options and consult legal counsel.
Martzloff said he did not consult with legal counsel before making the decision to delay the start and potentially ask for a variance on the 180 days of required education for remote learners.
The school could see a loss of funding if the school does not meet the 180-day requirement. Martzloff also acknowledged that he could have notified the board sooner.
Board Member Eric Borenstein asked Martzloff what led up to him making the Friday decision to delay the start of remote learning.
"I wouldn't say that anything specific happened Friday morning," Martzloff said, but he did find out how many teachers had now taken leave. He said that they had been working right up until the end on getting people hired to replace those who had taken leave.
"You should have your hands on every single process in this reopening plan," said Board Member Michael Buscaglia.
Martzloff acknowledged that school principals had told him that they weren't ready to reopen schools, but he said that it was not connected to staffing concerns.
Towards the end of the meeting, Board Vice President Suzanne Van Sice asked that Martzloff seek counsel about the use of Google Meet in the classroom since they are a Google District now. Sice says Google Meet is not considered a "camera" within the classroom.
Board members want to ensure that's not a violation of the teachers contract agreement. There would also have to be discussion about compensation if teachers are asked to record lessons in addition to their in-classroom duties.
Board Member Crystal Kaczmarek-Bogner motioned to allow the fully-remote students to start in the hybrid model if they do not want to wait for the delayed start.
There was debate over this proposal because some board members felt the most important duty was making things right for the remote students.
Bieger expressed that waiting until new teachers are brought on to start school for fully-remote students is irresponsible. Several times in the meeting board members expressed concerns about the equity of the types of education offered.
The board ended the public-facing meeting and went into executive session to discuss solutions after two hours.
Parents and teachers throughout the district are still left to answer many questions.