Dear Mr. Halliday:
As a result of potential discrepancies in Dr. Matthew Friedman’s attendance record, Ocean City Fairness in Taxes (FIT) sent a letter to your attention on Wednesday, June 21,2023, requesting that the district confirm that the attendance record of Dr. Friedman (as of June 13, 2023) received by FIT through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request was a fair and accurate representation of his attendance.
Since there was no response from the district on this straight forward question, FIT will assume by default that indeed the attendance record in possession of FIT is accurate and correct and will utilize the official document as the basis for any further action on the part of FIT.
Based on this attendance record, Dr. Friedman would be entitled to a buyout of unused vacation time in accordance with his employment agreement with the district. However, the agreement clearly states that the district has upwards of sixty (60) days to issue the buyout payment to Dr. Friedman (Exhibit “A”).
Based on this provision, FIT strongly urges the board to delay payment of the vacation buyout until all potential discrepancies noted by FIT in previous written communications are fully examined and resolved. These potential discrepancies could have a significant impact on the amount of the buyout payment, so in order to protect the interest of the Ocean City school community and the district taxpayer, caution with proceeding with the buyout payment is strongly recommended by FIT.