Secaucus Superintendent Paid $106,500 So Far, For 8 Months Of Not Working

SECAUCUS, NJ — Thursday, we reported that former Secaucus school superintendent Erick Alfonso has been paid his $180,000 yearly salary since the Board of Education placed him on paid leave in March.

Patch filed an OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request with the Secaucus school district to find out exactly how much he's been paid. On Friday, the school district responded:

"Dr. Alfonso is currently employed as the superintendent at an annual salary of $184,500. Dr. Alfonso has been on leave since March 20, 2024, and was paid $45,000 for the remaining three months of the 2023-2024 school year. For the 2024-2025 school year, Dr. Alfonso has been paid $61,500 to the present time."

In total, so far the Secaucus school district has paid Alfonso $106,500 for the past eight months he has not been allowed to work.

The fate of Alfonso — and how long the Secaucus school board intends to keep paying him while he is not working — is unknown.

He will continue to be paid until the Board takes further action: Alfonso is still technically considered the Secaucus school superintendent. He is still locked into a three-year contract he signed with the Board of Education. His contract expires June 30, 2026, said the district.

The Board has to finish its investigation into allegations made against him. The Board has not finished its investigation yet.

With the exception of Melissa Howard and Lance Barletta (who do not vote on staff issues because they have family that work in the district and were not present at the March 20 meeting), all the current BOE members — Enrico Bolognino, Kelli D'Addetta, Christina DeBari, Alexander de Hombre, Leah Farinola, Abigail Gonzalez and Joe Lewis — voted "yes" on March 20 to place Alfonso on paid administrative leave "pending the outcome of an investigation," the district said at the time.

Gonzalez and Farinola are not seeking re-election; the seat held by Ruby Kish (who moved out of town) is up for election and Melissa Howard, appointed by the Board to fill it, is asking voters to elect her.

See that March 20 meeting; they vote to place Alfonso on paid leave in the very last minute:

Yesterday: Secaucus Superintendent Paid $180K Salary, Has Not Worked For 8 Months