NJ Governor Corzine Moves to Stop “Outrageous” Severance Package for Keansburg School Superintendent

May 22, 2008 -- New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today authorized Department of Education Commissioner Lucille Davy to seek an injunction in Superior Court to prevent the Keansburg School District Board of Education from making severance payments under a contract with outgoing Superintendent of Schools Barbara A. Treszkowski that would pay her a total of $740,924 in severance and unused sick time.

“This extraordinary payment is an outrageous abuse of the state’s publicly funded education system at a time when schools are working hard to make best use of every dime they have,” Corzine said. “This is completely contrary to any reasonable public policy. It should be stopped dead in its tracks and the public should receive a clear and immediate explanation about how such a contract came to be approved.”

Under the terms of the contract negotiated and approved by the board in 2003, Treszkowski is to be paid a severance of $556,290 in five equal annual installments beginning July 15. Treszkowski is retiring after 38 years in the Monmouth County school district, one of the state’s 31 Abbott districts.

The contract also provides for Treszkowski be paid for more than 200 unused sick days and for the school board to “buy back” unused vacation days. She will also be eligible to begin collecting her pension.

Acting on behalf of Commissioner Davy, the Office of Attorney General Anne Milgram plans next week to file an order to show cause in Superior Court on the basis that the severance provision, the most substantial portion of the payment, is contrary to good public policy. Davy will ask the court to void the contract’s severance provision based on longevity.

“As commissioner I have an obligation to ensure an effective and efficient use of funds,” Davy said. “There is no rational explanation for the provisions in this contract; in no way do the children of Keansburg benefit from this expenditure.”

“State taxpayers must be guaranteed that fiscal resources are focused on the educational needs of children and not adults,” Davy said.

Source: New Jersey Governor

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