Michael Inzelbuch, a special education attorney, previously served as the school board attorney from 2002 to 2012.
LAKEWOOD -- The Lakewood Board of Education on Wednesday voted to rehire a former board attorney who has represented dozens of schoolchildren in lawsuits against the district regarding special-education services.
By a 6-1 margin, the board voted to appoint Michael Inzelbuch, who previously served as the board's attorney from 2002 to 2012. The lone "no" vote came from board member Heriberto Rodriguez, according to an audio recording of the meeting. After Rodriguez voted no, someone in the audience could be heard saying "thank you," followed by applause from others in attendance.
Inzelbuch, who graduated from Lakewood High School in 1983, has successfully sued the school district in at least 80 cases dealing with getting school children special education services. He has also represented other children with special needs in hundreds of cases against districts across the state.
On his attorney website, the slogan, "Every child deserves an appropriate education - at the district's expense," sits below his name.
In a statement, Inzelbuch said he's "honored to be selected for the position" but needs time to think about whether he will take it. Inzelbuch has to give the district an answer by June 30.
"Until such time," the statement said, "I will continue to represent the children and families of Lakewood who have entrusted me with their children's lives."
Inzelbuch, in an interview with NJ Advance Media, said there are several issues with the district that are giving him pause. For one, he said, the district has not renewed the contract of the school's superintendent, Laura Winters, and doesn't have a replacement in line.
"I'm not looking to come into an unstable situation," he said. "They need to have a superintendent. They need to have a commitment that every meeting is not going to turn into a circus."
For the 2017-18 budget, the district faced a nearly $15 million budget deficit and was going to have to cut 140 teachers and staff members, along with after-school activities, including athletic programs. The state then gave the district an $8.5 million loan, helping the district save a bulk of the staff members in danger of being laid off.
Winters, the superintendent, said late last month that the district may still need to cut nearly a dozen staff positions, including librarians, an athletic director and elementary guidance counselors.
Lakewood, a fast-growing township of 100,000 people and home to one of the largest populations of Orthodox Jews on the East Coast, has a public school system with only 6,000 students -- compared to 30,000 students that go to more than 100 private schools.
Winters has said that the state's funding formula doesn't recognize the costs associated with the additional private school students, and state funding has remained flat in the past eight years.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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