Can a Connecticut school district hire a retired educator as superintendent for one year, with the retiree continuing to draw teachers' retirement benefits, when the position sits in a central administrative office rather than in a school building?

Formal Opinion 2014-5: Reemploying a retired superintendent in a priority school district while drawing TRS benefits

Plain-English summary

The Teachers' Retirement Board administrator asked the AG whether the Bridgeport board of education could reemploy a retired educator as interim superintendent under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-183v(b)(2), with the retiree continuing to draw retirement benefits from the Teachers' Retirement System. The opinion answered yes. Section 10-183v(b)(2) lets a "teacher receiving retirement benefits" be reemployed for up to one school year by a local board "at a school located in a school district identified as a priority school district." Two definitional pieces had to fit. First, "teacher" under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-183b(26) includes "any teacher, permanent substitute teacher, principal, assistant principal, supervisor, assistant superintendent or superintendent," so a superintendent counts. Second, "public school" under § 10-183b(20) includes "any institution supported by the state at which teachers are employed," so a state-funded central administrative office in a priority school district fits, especially in Bridgeport where the office hosts other certificated supervisors. Read together, those definitions allowed reemployment of the retired educator as interim superintendent at the Bridgeport central office, all within the one-year cap.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2014. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Background and statutory framework

Connecticut's Teachers' Retirement System pays retirement benefits to retired educators. Continuing to receive those benefits while taking new full-time work would normally collide with the system's design, so the legislature carved out narrow reemployment windows in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-183v(b). Subsection (b)(2) is one such carve-out: a teacher receiving retirement benefits may be reemployed for up to one full school year by a local board "at a school located in a school district identified as a priority school district, pursuant to section 10-266p, for the school year in which the teacher is being employed."

The TRS chapter (Chapter 167a) defines its terms in § 10-183b. The two relevant definitions are sweeping. § 10-183b(26): "'Teacher' means any teacher, permanent substitute teacher, principal, assistant principal, supervisor, assistant superintendent or superintendent employed by the public schools in a professional capacity while possessing a certificate or permit issued by the State Board of Education . . . ." § 10-183b(20): "'Public school' means any day school conducted within or without this state under the orders and superintendence of a duly elected school committee, a board of education, the State Board of Education the board of governors or any of its constituent units . . . and any institution supported by the state at which teachers are employed . . . ."

Bridgeport had been listed by the State Board of Education as a priority school district under § 10-266p.

What the AG concluded at the time

A superintendent is a "teacher"

The AG read § 10-183b(26) as plainly including superintendents within the definition of "teacher" for TRS purposes. Public Act 80-300 had added "supervisors, assistant superintendents and superintendents" to the definition in 1981 specifically to bring administrators into the system. So the threshold question, was the retiree being reemployed in a position that fit within § 10-183v(b)(2) at all, was answered by the statutory definition.

A central administrative office is a "school" if it is state-funded and employs teachers

The closer question was whether the central administrative office at which superintendents work counts as a "school located in a school district identified as a priority school district." § 10-183b(20)'s second clause covers "any institution supported by the state at which teachers are employed."

The AG worked through both elements. State funding: Bridgeport had received $164,195,344 in Education Cost Sharing funds for 2011-2012, with 3.93% used for general administration. The central administrative office was therefore "supported by the state." Teachers employed: the superintendent herself qualifies as a "teacher" under the broad statutory definition, and a footnote noted that other state-certificated employees in the office (Executive Director/Specialized Instruction, Director of Bilingual Education/World Languages, Deputy Chief Academic Officer) are "supervisors" who also fit the definition.

The result follows from the policy

The AG concluded by tying the reading back to the legislative purpose. Allowing reemployment of retired teachers in narrow windows lets boards fill short-term but urgent needs with experienced personnel. Excluding superintendents from that pool would defeat that purpose, and § 10-157(a) confirms the superintendent is the chief executive officer of the board, a role that the legislature would not have wanted to bar from emergency reemployment.

Common questions

How long could the retiree work?

§ 10-183v(b)(2) permits reemployment "for up to one full school year." The statute does not allow indefinite reemployment.

Did this apply to any school district, or just priority school districts?

The opinion addressed only § 10-183v(b)(2), the priority-school-district provision. Other subsections of § 10-183v address other circumstances (subject-shortage areas, etc.). The Bridgeport question turned on priority-district status.

Did the retiree need to surrender retirement benefits?

No. The opinion's focus was that the reemployment was permitted "while receiving a retirement benefit from the System." That was the whole point of the statutory carve-out.

What if the office was not state-funded?

The opinion's "public school" analysis relied on the state-funding criterion in § 10-183b(20). A purely locally funded central office might not satisfy the definition; the AG did not opine on that scenario.

Citations

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-183v(b)(2) — one-year reemployment of TRS retirees in priority school districts.
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-183b(20) — definition of "public school" includes state-supported institutions employing teachers.
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-183b(26) — "teacher" includes superintendent and other certificated administrators.
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-266p — priority school district designation.
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-157(a) — superintendent as chief executive officer of the board.
• Public Act 80-300 — added superintendents and other administrators to the "teacher" definition.
• Foley v. State Elections Enforcement Commission, 297 Conn. 764 (2010) — read statutes as a whole.
• Mattatuck Museum-Mattatuck Historical Society v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act, 238 Conn. 273 (1996) — plain-meaning rule.

Source

• Landing page: https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ag/opinions/2014/2014-005_perez_opinion_reemployed_superintendent-pdf.pdf?rev=a3b0e36162834f3fb9b6b3a16366012d

Original opinion text

GEORGE C. JEPSEN
ATTORNEY GENERAL

55 Elm Street
P.O. Box 120
Hartford, CT 06141-0120

Office of The Attorney General
State of Connecticut

August 8, 2014

Darlene Perez
Teachers' Retirement Board Administrator
Connecticut Teachers' Retirement Board
765 Asylum Avenue
Hartford, CT 06105-2822

Dear Ms. Perez,

You have requested this office's opinion regarding whether pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183v(b)(2) a local board of education may "reemploy" as the board's superintendent an individual who is receiving a retirement benefit from the Teachers' Retirement System ("System"). We conclude that a superintendent is statutorily authorized to be "reemployed" in a "school district identified as a priority school district" while receiving a retirement benefit from the System because the position of superintendent is included within the statutory definition of "teacher" under § 10-183b(26), and a central administrative office located within a priority school district fits within the statutory definition of "public school" under § 10-183b(20).

The information provided with your request indicates that a member of the System who is receiving a retirement benefit from the System will be reemployed as the interim superintendent by the Bridgeport board of education pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183v(b)(2). In addition, you state that the school district in which the interim superintendent will be reemployed has been identified as a "priority school district" pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes § 10-266p. To answer your inquiry we must review the entire statutory scheme of Chapter 167a of the Connecticut General Statutes. See Foley v. State Elections Enforcement Commission, 297 Conn. 764, 793 (2010) (finding that statutes must be read as a whole "so as to reconcile all parts as far as possible").

Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183v(b)(2) provides:

A teacher receiving retirement benefits from the system may be reemployed for up to one full school year by a local board of education . . . in a position . . . (2) at a school located in a school district identified as a priority school district, pursuant to section 10-266p, for the school year in which the teacher is being employed.

There appears to be no question that the individual who has prompted your inquiry was a "teacher" who was and is "receiving retirement benefits from the system." Nor do we have any hesitation in concluding that the individual's reemployment as a superintendent also falls within the statutory definition of "teacher." Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183b(26) provides in relevant part that a "'[t]eacher' means any teacher, permanent substitute teacher, principal, assistant principal, supervisor, assistant superintendent or superintendent employed by the public schools in a professional capacity while possessing a certificate or permit issued by the State Board of Education . . . ." (Emphasis added.) The plain language of the statute does not exclude any category of employee for reemployment pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183v(b)(2) and clearly includes superintendents within the definition of "teacher," even though such positions typically are administrative in nature. See Mattatuck Museum-Mattatuck Historical Society v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act, 238 Conn. 273, 278 (1996) (finding that when statutory language is "plain and unambiguous," courts will look no further than the words themselves because it is assumed "that the language expresses the legislature's intent").

Thus, the individual is eligible for reemployment "at a school located in a school district identified as a priority school district." (Emphasis added.) Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183v(b)(2). Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether a central administrative office is considered a "school" for purposes of Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183v(b)(2) because superintendents typically work out of a central administrative office that oversees the entire school district.

Section 10-183b(20) provides in relevant part that a "'[p]ublic school' means any day school conducted within or without this state under the orders and superintendence of a duly elected school committee, a board of education, the State Board of Education the board of governors or any of its constituent units . . . and any institution supported by the state at which teachers are employed . . . ." (Emphasis added.) The most recent data available on state Education Cost Sharing ("ECS") funding shows that for the 2011-2012 academic year, the City of Bridgeport received $164,195,344.00 in ECS funding. In addition, 3.93% of such ECS funding for the Bridgeport Public School System's 2011-2012 academic year was used for general administration. Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the Bridgeport Public Schools' central administrative office meets the "supported by the state" criteria under the definition of "public school" because the Bridgeport Public Schools' central administrative office is indeed an "institution supported by the state" for purposes of Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183b(20).

Section 10-183b(20) also specifies that a "public school" includes "any institution supported by the state at which teachers are employed." (Emphasis added.) As previously provided, C.G.S. § 10-183b(26) defines "teacher" broadly to include "any teacher, permanent substitute teacher, principal, assistant principal, supervisor, assistant superintendent or superintendent employed by the public schools in a professional capacity while possessing a certificate or permit issued by the State Board of Education . . . ." Thus, the "institution" involved here employs a "teacher" inasmuch as a superintendent himself or herself is statutorily defined as a "teacher." It is also worth noting that a number of other individuals who serve in the office of the superintendent would statutorily qualify as "teachers."

Permitting the reemployment of retired "teachers" in the enumerated statutory situations serves the policy of making available to local boards of education a pool of qualified professionals to fill short-term but urgent educational needs. We have no hesitation in concluding that in advancing this policy the legislature intended to include a superintendent, "the chief executive officer of the board," Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-157(a), among those who may be "reemployed" by the board, and we are aware of no relevant statutory language to the contrary.

Therefore, since employees who meet the statutory definition of "teacher" are employed at the Bridgeport Public Schools' central administrative office, and the office is state funded, it is clear that the superintendent will be reemployed "at a school located in a school district identified as a priority school district . . . for the school year in which the teacher is being employed." (Emphasis added.) Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183v(b)(2). Thus, we conclude that the superintendent may be allowed to work pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes § 10-183v(b)(2) for the period specified in the statute while receiving a retirement benefit from the System.

Very truly yours,

GEORGE JEPSEN
ATTORNEY GENERAL