South Brunswick Paid $50K to Superintendent to Leave, Plus a Performance Bonus

South Brunswick, NJ - Jerry Jellig may have been unpopular as superintendent of South Brunswick public schools, but he did receive a $26,000 performance bonus during his time at the helm of the district.

He was paid that money in the 2014/2015 school year for meeting certain performance goals, said Dr. Stephen Parker, president of the South Brunswick Board of Education.

"His contract called for up to $26,000 based on meeting performance goals," Parker told Patch in an email. "The dollar amount is not unusual for a district of our size," he added.

Parker said he did not have Jellig's contract in front of him, so he wasn't sure what those specific goals were. But he said they were "probably related to our dashboard goals."

Jellig did not receive any bonus money in the 2105/2016 school year, his most tumultuous year with the district before he resigned effective May 31. Before he resigned, citing "personal reasons," Jellig had been placed on a paid administrative leave by the school board. He was under fire from both the teachers' union and parents, many of whom told Patch they wanted to see him gone, chanting "Dump the Super!" outside a Board of Ed. meeting on May 9.

That $26,000 bonus in 2014 was in addition to his regular salary of $177,500 per year.

Jellig quit the district as he was battling with the teachers' union, which filed four separate grievances against him. In quitting, he voided the remaining three years left in his five-year contract with South Brunswick.

As part of an agreement he arranged with the school board, the district gave him a lump sum of $50,064 to end his contract. That $50,064 is made up of: $20,480.77 for 30 unused vacation days (at $682.69 per day), plus a severance payment of two months’ salary, or $29,583.33. He was also paid his regular salary through May 31. This is all according to the separation document between Jellig and South Brunswick obtained by TAP Into through an Open Public Records Act request.

As part of the agreement, Jellig and the school board agreed to part amicably, and if either party made a disparaging comment publicly or in the press, it would void the entire agreement. As Patch has reported, past superintendent Dr. Gary McCartney was brought back to serve as temporary superintendent, but he is not permanent.