I-Team: Superintendent Severance Update

Gov. Jon Corzine requested a review of every school superintendent?s contract Tuesday amid concerns about one school official?s retirement package.
With a $500,000 bonus and nearly $200,000 in unused sick and vacation time, Keansburg Superintendent Barbara Trezeskowski is set to retire with nearly $750,000. That number has outraged many taxpayers and is the subject of two state investigations.
Those with the State Commission of Investigation say they have been trying to ban ?sweet? retirement deals for more than a decade. In 1998, an SCI report urged lawmakers to limit retirees to $15,000 in unused sick time and letting them cash out on only the previous year?s unused vacation time. In 2006, the agency repeated the recommendations and specifically singled out school superintendent contracts.
State lawmakers didn?t approve any recommendations until last year. However, Trezeskowski?s retirement package was already locked in. State lawmakers also never addressed the issue of huge retirement bonuses.
Meanwhile, the state attorney general is asking a judge to block the $500,000 bonus in Trezeskowski?s contract.
I-TeamInvestigates: Superintendent Severance