School Zone

Scott Martzloff has already made quite an impression as Williamsville's next superintendent.

At 7-foot-1, the former Division I and minor league basketball player towers over just about everyone.

(That's Martzloff shaking hands the other night with the man he's soon going to replace, Superintendent Howard Smith. Yes, they're both standing up.)

But Martzloff's height is hardly the only thing that has people talking.

Martzloff's resume has also made quite an impression.

In the past few days, I've had everyone from Williamsville residents to administrators in other districts ask me why the Williamsville School Board selected him.

Consider:

- With only three years experience in the classroom, Martzloff never received tenure as a teacher.

- He served as an assistant principal in various positions, but never worked as a building principal.

- Martzloff has never held any position longer than three years.

- He never held a central office position prior to being named superintendent of Byron-Bergen.

- He has been a superintendent less than two years in Byron-Bergen, a district one-tenth the size of Williamsville.

There are literally more students at Williamsville East High School alone than there are in the entire Byron-Bergen School District.

Apparently, Martzloff's lack of experience did not faze the Williamsville School Board, which voted unanimously to hire him.

News reporter Sandy Tan wrote:

School Board President William Freeman introduced Martzloff, calling him a "rising star" with "exceptional integrity" and "first-rate intellect."

"It's clear he is a person of collaboration," Freeman said.

At 40, Martzloff will be one of the youngest superintendents in the state, leading one of the largest suburban districts in New York. And, of course, he'll be making one of the biggest salaries around, at $200,000 -- which equates to more than a $50,000 raise over what he makes in Byron-Bergen.

- Mary Pasciak