LAKEWOOD - Business as usual was interrupted at Wednesday night's school board meeting by a district employee who called for board member Moshe S. Newhouse, who admitted to improperly taking $24,000 in Medicaid benefits, to resign.

Melinda Murray, a public school bus aide who has been critical of some of the district's recent decisions revamping its transportation structure, stood up for her turn at the microphone during public comment.

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"You, Mr. Moshe, don't belong here," Murray said from the podium, pointing toward Newhouse. "You should not be making decisions for the children or the employees. You should resign."

Scattered applause from the few dozen people in the audience followed. Newhouse is a first-term board member who, the Asbury Park Press reported last week, had negotiated a secret deal to repay $24,000 in Medicaid benefits he improperly received as part of a state-offered amnesty program last year — half of what he owed.

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Board attorney Michael Inzelbuch stepped in and said he would not discuss Newhouse's position. Newhouse later declined to say if he would resign as he left the high school commons where the Board of Education meets.

Board President Moshe Bender, Vice President Thea Jackson-Byers and member Ada Gonzalez also declined to say whether they thought Newhouse should keep his position on the board.

"I think the whole board has a lot of audacity to not (ask) him to resign," Murray later told the Press. "Why aren’t we going to talk about it? It’s a public forum, it’s a voted-in position."

Inzelbuch said board members had asked if Newhouse was required to resign, but Inzelbuch advised the board it was not required.

"He does not have a criminal record and there's nothing that prevents him from serving on the board," Inzelbuch said, confirming that he also advised board members not to discuss the situation because it could have "legal implications" for the state comptroller's office, which offered the amnesty program.

"We try to keep our focus on things we can control," Inzelbuch said. "Conjecture of what we feel doesn't help the students of Lakewood."

School boards can only remove one of their elected members if the member misses three meetings in a row without good cause, according to state law.

Complaints filed with the state School Ethics Commission can also lead to removal after a process involving a hearing. The ethics commission can also initiate a process to investigate whether an ethics violation occurred.

Newhouse, 34, was elected to a three-year term on the Lakewood Board of Education in 2016. In November 2017, he applied for the Ocean County Voluntary Disclosure Program, a special program offered by New Jersey Comptroller Philip J. Degnan in the wake of high-profile welfare benefits fraud arrests of 26 people in Lakewood.

Ultimately 159 people applied for the program and repaid about $2.2 million to the state in benefits they received but were not entitled to. The Press reported last week that Newhouse, an elected official, was given amnesty and repaid just half of the $48,000 in benefits he improperly received.

Just days before he applied for amnesty, Newhouse entered into an agreement to build a $500,000 home, public land records show.

The comptroller later confirmed that most of the people who participated in the program were given negotiated deals, resulting in $2.6 million that was not repaid to the state. Degnan said he was not aware settlement payments were being reduced until three days before the program application period ended.

Stacey Barchenger: @sbarchenger; 732-643-4245; sbarchenger@gannettnj.com