A Morris County district is paying its former superintendent $645,000 to settle a lawsuit, capping a years-long fight in which he alleged the school board retaliated against him for whistleblowing.
The Mount Olive Board of Education approved the settlement agreement with former superintendent Robert Zywicki and his wife, Melanie Zywicki, in a 5-4 vote at its board meeting Monday night.
The district will pay $152,000 of the $645,000 settlement, according to a resolution approving the agreement. The remainder of the money will be covered by the district’s insurance carrier.
In a joint statement released by the district and Zywicki, the parties announced they “reached a mutually acceptable resolution of their differences.”
“As part of this resolution, Dr. Zywicki has agreed to withdraw all pending litigation against the District and its officials,” the statement said, noting the terms of the settlement are confidential.
“The District and Dr. Zywicki have determined that this resolution serves the best interests of all parties involved, including the Mount Olive school community,” the statement said. “Both parties look forward to moving forward and focusing on their respective future endeavors.”
Zywicki, who led the district from 2018 to 2023, previously earned $238,000 a year. He now works at an educational technology company, he told NJ Advance Media.
“All counsel worked hard to achieve this settlement, and we are happy that the board approved it,” said Stephen Edelstein, Zywicki’s attorney.
In November 2022, Zywicki filed a lawsuit against the township’s board of education alleging officials violated the state’s open public meeting law when they secretly suspended him with pay during a closed door vote the previous month.
Neither Zywicki nor the school board publicly said what led to the vote at the time.
In April 2023, Zywicki quit his position as superintendent in a fiery resignation letter, saying the school board created a “toxic and hostile environment.”
In his lawsuit, Zywicki alleged the board retaliated against him for whistleblowing and exposing improper behavior by school board members. He also alleged board members orchestrated a scheme to destroy his reputation, and he filed ethics charges against several board members.
One school board member filed tenure charges against Zywicki in 2023, making several allegations, including that he pressured a school board architect to donate $100,000 to help fund a new football field scoreboard. Zywicki allegedly told the architect to pay for the gift by secretly inflating his regular fees paid by the district.
Zywicki denied any wrongdoing, saying the tenure charges were in retaliation for his own whistleblowing exposing other problems in the district in 2022. The tenure case ended when Zywicki resigned a few months later, his attorney said.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.
