Suspended Mount Olive schools superintendent resigns, vows to keep legal fight going

Mount Olive School District Superintendent Rob Zywicki announced his resignation Thursday, but the conflict resulting in his October suspension by the Board of Education will continue.

In a letter sent to the district on Thursday, Zywicki made his announcement "with great sadness" and asked that the board accept his immediate resignation.

"For six months, the majority of the board and its legal representatives have rejected one opportunity after another to engage in meaningful settlement dialogue," Zywicki's resignation letter reads. "They prefer, instead, through malicious actions, anonymous letters, rumors and innuendo to make it impossible for me to return to Mount Olive and, as a practical and legal matter, they have constructively discharged me from my position."

Zywicki has been on paid suspension since Oct. 11, when the board took action without publicly stating a reason. Zywicki responded in November with a lawsuit alleging the board violated the state's Open Public Meetings Act while voting to suspend him in a closed session. Zywicki also filed tort claims stating his intention to sue school board members Antoine Gayles and William Robinson for $5.13 million each.

He later updated the suit, claiming "whistleblower" status, and added two more board members, Anthony Strillacci and Anthony Giordano, as defendants in a suit seeking "compensation for multi-million dollar damages" incurred by Zywicki as a result of an "orchestrated scheme" by the defendants "to punish him and destroy his reputation" after he reported "ongoing violations of policy, code and good practices" by some board members to the entire board.

While the board never publicly stated the grounds for Zywicki's suspension, a letter from Zywicki's attorney, Stephen Edelstein, outlines some of the conflicts.

Charges leveled against Zywicki include him having "double-dipped" on several occasions, including "numerous out-of-district, in-services days" working with the Rutgers Center For Effective School Practices without taking vacation or personal days. The Edelstein letter also identifies timelines and other evidence to refute each alleged incident.

Zywicki's resignation comes a few days after the Supreme Court of New Jersey's district committee for Morris and Sussex counties agreed in writing to launch an investigation into subsequent allegations against Mount Olive Board of Education attorney Marc Zitomer. That decision follows Zywicki's complaint filed to the board that Zitomer has committed violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

More: Construction is underway at former Parsippany Kmart on Route 46. What's going there?

Zitomer served as counsel for the Sparta Board of Education during a period when Zywicki served on that board. Zywicki said he was initially friendly with Zitomer, who represented him in board matters and in incidents of bullying involving his disabled son, a student in the Sparta district.

During that time, Zitomer was able to obtain private information about Zywicki and his children, who were later moved to a private school, the complaint letter states. Zywicki claims Zitomer later shared his confidential information with Giordano, a behavior that is "part and parcel to a toxic pattern of gaslighting, manipulation and intimidation via a weaponization of his multiple conflicted attorney-client relationships."

Zitomer referred questions about the conflict to Jeffrey LaRosa, a partner at the law firm of Schenck, Price, Smith & King, where he chairs the firm's school law practice group.

"All that has happened at this point is that a grievance has been filed," LaRosa said of the ethics investigation. "That investigation is in the early stages. The investigator has not completed his investigation and the committee has not decided whether to file a formal complaint."

Mount Olive District Acting Superintendent Sumit Bangia said the district does not comment on personnel-related or pending legal matters.

In addition to Mount Olive, Zitomer serves as board attorney in several other New Jersey school districts, including Randolph, Sparta, Mine Hill, Mansfield, Mahwah, Nutley, Marlboro, South Plainfield, Jackson, Frelinghuysen, Green Township, Lafayette, Warren Hills and Ewing.

Zywicki was hired in 2018 and his contract was renewed in 2018 and 2019. Public records list his annual salary at $237,350.

"I only wish the best for the fine students, teachers, staff and families at Mount Olive, with whom I was proud to serve," Zywicki concluded his resignation letter.

His legal battle with the district will continue, however.

"Please rest assured that this does not mean that I will surrender to those who have wronged me and my family and even taken away health benefits from my disabled child," he wrote. "I have filed ethics charges against several board members. I filed a complaint with the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights against the board, I filed a grievance with the New Jersey Supreme Court Office of Attorney Ethics and I have filed a Superior Court civil lawsuit.  My attorneys will now expand that lawsuit and see it through to a fair conclusion."

"We're confident that once the investigation is complete, the matter will be dismissed," Larosa said.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Mount Olive NJ schools superintendent Rob Zywicki resigns