PRINCETON, N.J. – New Jersey lawmakers just saved the Princeton school district $77,000, but taxpayers will still be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in unused sick day bonuses for school employees.

The Princeton school board last week approved a nearly $50,000 payout to former district superintendent Judith A. Wilson for sick and vacation days she hadn’t used when she retired in December, the Princeton Packet reports.

“Assistant Superintendent Lewis Goldstein explained after the meeting that the money, totaling $49,954.50, included $15,000 for unused sick days. He said Ms. Wilson had $92,864 in 105 unused sick days but noted that a state law caps how much she could get paid for them at $15,000,” according to the news site.

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“A mix of unused and accrued vacation time came out to $34,954.50. The dollar value of each sick and vacation day is based on Ms. Wilson’s $884.42 per diem rate, according to the district. That number is calculated based on dividing her $229,950 salary by a 260-day work year.”

To say the payout is preposterous would be a vast understatement, especially considering that Wilson left the district nearly six months before her contract expired in June. The unused sick day buyout is one of the many unnecessary public school employment perks EAGnews has worked to expose in recent years. In other school districts, school administrators have cashed out nearly $1 million upon retirement, but the ridiculous payments aren’t limited to administrators.

Most teacher union contracts include special payments for unused sick and personal days for teachers and other unionized employees, as well.

In Princeton, the district also approved an unused sick day payment to a school counselor for $600, and a $29,558.40 payment to a district carpenter for unused sick, vacation and personal days, the Packet reports.

Thankfully, New Jersey lawmakers have taken steps to limit unused sick day bonuses to $15,000, meaning Princeton schools saved about $77,000 by not having to pay Wilson the full $92,864 for her unused sick days.

The limit is certainly a step in the right direction, but lawmakers could do more to eliminate this massive waste of money. The vast majority of private-sector companies employ a use-it-or-lose-it policy in regard to leave time, and there’s no reason public employers should be any different.

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Administrators and teachers unions constantly bemoan the need to “fully fund” public schools, but these types of needless buyouts and special payments demonstrate exactly why taxpayers should think twice before they simply fork over more of their hard-earned money.