A week after coming under fire for anti-Muslim posts he shared on his personal Facebook page, Toms River Regional Board of Education member Daniel P. Leonard said Monday that he will not seek re-election in November.

"I am not running for re-election because I don’t want to compromise the school district and all the great work that we have done over the last two to three years," said Leonard, 42, who represents Beachwood on the nine-member regional board.

Monday was the filing deadline for board of education candidates. In Beachwood, candidates Melissa Morrison and Alex Mizenko will compete for Leonard's seat.

More:Toms River school board president asks board member to resign over anti-Muslim posts

But Leonard said he has no plans to resign from the board before his term expires on Dec. 31.

"I'm not going to resign because I'm not going to compromise myself," Leonard said.

Last week, the New Jersey Chapter of the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR) sent to the media three anti-Muslim Facebook posts Leonard had made in April, and a firestorm erupted. On July 25, school board President Joseph Nardini implored Leonard to resign, "for the sake of the students of this district."

He noted that he asked for Leonard's resignation "with a heavy heart," and appreciates both his military service and his work on the school board.

More:Toms River school board member must quit over Facebook posts, Muslim group says

Leonard is a decorated combat veteran who served as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan.

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The post that attracted the most attention — and anger — included a photo of U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat who is a Muslim, above a link to a Fox News article about Tlaib calling for a hunger strike — in response to U.S. Customs & Immigration Enforcement's treatment of immigrants at the U.S. border.

More:'Eradicate Islam from every town,' tweets NJ Republican Committee

Leonard wrote: "my life would be complete if she/they die." Leonard claims that his post was not meant as a threat to Tlaib. Instead, Leonard said, he meant that he did not care if she starved, since she was advocating a boycott of a government agency.

At a contentious school board meeting July 24, more than a dozen Muslims, former Toms River Regional students and parents called on Leonard to step from his post.

Many of the speakers questioned how Leonard can serve a school system that is becoming increasingly diverse after sharing divisive memes and making inflammatory statements on social media.

More:Toms River school board member charged after chasing other driver, crashing on Hooper Avenue: Police report

Leonard frequently interrupted his critics, prompting school board President Nardini to bang the gavel in an often-fruitless attempt to get Leonard to stop talking.

Watch East Brunswick resident Wesam Berjoui, who is a Muslim, spar with Leonard in the video above.

In the face of increasing pressure for him to resign, Leonard had remained defiant through the weekend, insisting not only that he would not leave the board, but that he planned to seek a new term.

In addition to CAIR-NJ, a national civil rights group, Muslim Advocates, and several politicians, including Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver and Gov. Phil Murphy, had called on Leonard to leave the board.

Leonard has his supporters as well. A change.org petition calling for Leonard to be cleared of any wrongdoing has garnered more than 275 signatures.

Leonard's supporters urged him not to resign, and said they didn't believe he had done anything wrong. They planned a rally in support of Leonard before the Aug. 21 board of education meeting at Toms River High School North.

Board attorney Stephan R. Leone said the school board was likely to initiate an ethics investigation to determine if Leonard had violated any school district policies.

"It probably wasn't the right thing to do," Leonard said of his controversial Facebook posts, but then quickly added that he and his family have faced numerous death threats since the posts became public.

"They are terrorizing me," he said. "My wife just had to go to the police station to take them some of the posts."

He said he plans to spend more time with his family, and remains proud of what he's accomplished in his time on the board.

"I fought both political establishments," he said.

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics at the Jersey Shore for nearly 35 years. A finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in public service, she's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle, 732-643-4050, jmikle@gannettnj.com.