Two months into the school year, and Williamsville school parents like Brooke Lerner have questions about what’s going on with top school officials.
“What’s happening with two administrators who are making kind of the upper end of the scale? What’s going on with the investigation,” Lerner asked.
The School Board of Education placed Superintendent Doctor Scott Martzloff on paid administrative leave on September 7, after it said he mishandled the district’s COVID-19 reopening plan.
Documents obtained by 7 Eyewitness News through a Freedom of Information Request show Martzloff was paid more than $6,000 per pay period totally more than $12,000 in the month of September alone. Meantime Acting Superintendent John Mckenna is being paid the same salary after the board approved his raise last month.
Some Williamsville parents we spoke to are perplexed.
“This hyflex plan is the same plan that Scott Martzloff had instituted back in May, June, and June. And to be paying both superintendents just seems ridiculous,” said Terry King.
We asked School Board President Teresa Leather-Barrow whether she thinks the situation is fiscally responsible. In an email response, she didn’t say. Instead, she wrote that paying Martzloff is part of the terms of his contract.
The district has hired the Harris Beach law firm to conduct a private investigation, and it is on-going. So, it’s unclear how long Martzloff will remain on paid leave. Any appeal to the New York State Department of Education would also take time to resolve.
