A Suffolk County judge has ruled that a former Sayville school administrator was "misleading" when he told his bosses he was leaving the district to care for his ailing wife, when in reality he left for a new job and higher pay with another district.

State Supreme Court Justice Maureen T. Liccione in Suffolk County on Wednesday rejected former Sayville district administrator Peter Branscombe's legal effort to keep a $210,000 payout agreement the school board had rescinded. Sayville officials said Branscombe had planned in advance to leave the district for another job, not to care for his ill wife.

The judge said Branscombe, 49, of Holtsville, gave Sayville a "clearly false and misleading" explanation for leaving that led the board to approve a payout of his sick and vacation time — a ben

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