Less than a year into his tenure, Dr. Friedman may be appointed superintendent in Pennsylvania school district next week
OCEAN CITY — Less than a year into his tenure as superintendent of the Ocean City School District, Dr. Matthew Friedman is looking for a new job.
Chris Halliday, president of the Ocean City Board of Education, said Saturday that Friedman confirmed he is a finalist for the position as superintendent of the Quakertown (Pa.) Community School District.
That news came as the Bucks County (Pa.) Herald reported in its Saturday’s edition that the Quakertown Community School District school board plans to vote Tuesday on the appointment of Friedman to succeed the current superintendent, who is retiring in June.
The Bucks County Herald noted that district began its search to replace Dr. William Harner in December.
“Dr. Friedman confirmed that he is a finalist for the Quakertown School District superintendent position,” Halliday wrote in an emailed response to a question from the Ocean City Sentinel.
“If Dr. Friedman were to leave the district, the search for a new superintendent would begin immediately and all board members would be involved in finding his replacement,” Halliday added. “If Dr. Friedman were to leave he would be obligated to stay with the Ocean City School District until July.”
The K-12 district was without permanent leadership in the 2021-22 school year after long-serving superintendent Dr. Kathleen Taylor and Ocean City High School principal Dr. Matthew Jamison retired in summer 2021.
The district had an interim superintendent through the entire 2021-22 school year until Friedman took over. An interim high school principal also worked for much of last school year, but left early.
Assistant Principal Dr. Wendy O’Neal was acting principal from last spring until early this year, when the board named her permanent principal.
After an extensive search following Taylor’s retirement, the Ocean City school board hired Friedman, who had been an assistant superintendent of schools in the South Orange Maplewood School District.
Friedman began in his job in Ocean City last summer and was immediately engulfed in a contentious debate over the New Jersey Health and Physical Education Standards, which the board adopted in August, just before the 2022-23 school year began.
The debate over the standards continued through the November school board election and then came up at the board’s March meeting, when three new members offered two resolutions, one to rescind the board’s August vote and the other to tell the state Board of Education it should revise the standards. The board voted 9-3 against the resolutions.
“This is a pivotal time for the Ocean City School District. I fully embrace this opportunity to lead and will be a catalyst for growth in the district and the community,” Friedman said in a release after the board announced hiring him last May and noted he had 23 years of educational experience.
“The Ocean City School District has a long history of excellence and I look forward to seeing the future growth and development of the district under Dr. Friedman’s leadership” Dr. Patrick Kane, then Ocean City Board of Education president, said at the time. “His innovative approach to education, communication skills and strong sense of family will fit well with our community.”
“I am honored to be the new superintendent of the Ocean City School District and am looking forward to partnering with our students, educators, school board, families and community in accomplishing the district’s mission of continued excellence by inspiring critical thinking, fostering intellectual curiosity and promoting acceptance of individuals,” Friedman said at the time. “This allows our students to achieve their full potential as responsible, contributing citizens of an ever-changing global community.”
The Ocean City Sentinel reached out to Dr. Friedman for comment on Saturday.
Willingboro ,NJ it’s a regular occurrence! Better they early,when they are not vested in the district than stay and create more problems the district will have to clean up. We have see it all and we are still rated last among the neighboring towns. It’s sad for the community. We deserve so much better.