Top Spots At Wall Intermediate Filled, One By Ex-Athletic Director

WALL, N.J.—The Board of Education has named two top administrators to the Wall Intermediate School, including one as vice principal who was on leave after a football hazing incident in the district last year.

The board approved the appointment of Eric Laughlin as principal of the Wall Intermediate School at the board meeting on Tuesday, June 14, Board President Ralph Addonizio confirmed Friday .

He said it also approved the appointment of Thomas Ridoux, the former athletic director who had been on leave, as vice principal.

Addonizio said the votes were unanimous among board members present.

According to public employee records, Ridoux is listed as earning $166,252 per year. Laughlin is listed as earning $171,626 per year.

Laughlin will replace former Intermediate School Principal Erin Embon, who has been on leave following a senior class trip to Disneyworld earlier this year. Addonizio could not comment on Embon's status, saying it was still a personnel matter. The Wall High School Principal Rose Sirchio has also been on leave since the trip.

Superintendent Tracy Handerhan said in separate letters in April that Sirchio and Embon would be on leave, but did not specify why, according to a Patch story in April. The letter said Kevin Davis would serve as acting principal at Wall High School. Parents then received another letter from Handerhan, alerting them of Embon's leave, which, like the previous one, makes no indication of the nature of the leave, the Patch story said.

Ridoux had been placed on leave following the disclosure of hazing incidents that happened in September and October of 2021.

According to previous Patch reports, six members of the Wall High School football team charged as juveniles in hazing incidents last fall in the high school's locker room were sentenced to probation and community service, following an investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Seven students were suspended as a result of the investigation, as were several coaches and the athletic director. Six of the seven accused students have since been able to return to school after being suspended. In late December, the Wall Board of Education made a decision to allow the students to return in January, previous reports in Patch have said.

Victims involved in the hazing have come forward and accused the district of negligence, according to a past news report from NJ.com that was credited in a previous Patch article. The negligence accusation was part of tort claim notices sent to the district in January, alerting the district of plans to sue, the NJ.com report said. The report said the tort notices detailed two attacks on different dates in October.