Perez, 080814 CTAGO, AGO 2014-5

• Case Date: August 08, 2014
• Court: Connecticut

Darlene Perez AGO 2014-5 No. 2014-005 Connecticut Attorney General Opinions 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...