TOWSON, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore County school system has paid a total of more than $150,000 to two employees who have voluntarily left their positions.

The Baltimore Sun reports the money was paid in a settlement with a former assistant superintendent of human resources and a former chief communications officer.

The two employees had signed a contract with former superintendent Joe Hairson that would have entitled them to much larger payouts if fired by his successor.

The new superintendent, Dallas Dance, has said the contracts were not legal but he and the school system agreed to pay them as part of the settlement. Dance moved to replace them when he became superintendent. He and the school system later reached a settlement with them.

The school system says the employees’ departures weren’t performance-related.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)