Rachlin in Wainscott despite Oysterponds’ objections

The day after the Oysterponds Board of Education banned Dr. Stuart Rachlin from accepting a job as part-time superintendent in Wainscott, the part-time Oysterponds  superintendent went to work for . . .  Wainscott.

“We hired him in good faith and he appeared in good faith and whatever goes on between him and Oysterponds, we don’t have a clue,” said Wainscott Board of Education president Nancy McCaffrey in an interview Friday.

A rumor was circulating in the Oysterponds community that Dr. Rachlin had agreed to work without compensation for the Wainscott District through the end of the 2011 semester in June. But Ms. McCaffrey said, “That’s news to me.” The Wainscott board hired Dr. Rachlin at $48,000 a year pro-rated for the current school year.

On Jan. 18, the Oysterponds Board of Education voted 5-1 to prohibit Dr. Rachlin from taking the Wainscott job. Board members said a clause in the superintendent’s 2007 buyout agreement requires him to obtain permission from the district before negotiating with any other school system.

Oysterponds board members said they won’t release him from that provision unless he agrees to renegotiate his buyout, which currently provides him a full-time salary for part-time work through the end of June, with a $100,000 payout for the last year of his contract that was to expire in June 2012.

“The board voted clearly and we’re now in discussion with counsel,” said Oysterponds Board of Education president Deborah Dumont.

Dr. Rachlin couldn’t be reached for comment.