2005 Vermont Code - § 1931. — Definitions

§ 1931. Definitions

The following words and phrases as used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Accumulated contributions" shall mean the sum of all the amounts deducted from the compensation of a member and credited to his individual account in the annuity savings fund, together with regular interest thereon, as provided in subsection (b) of section 1944 of this title.

(2) "Actuarial equivalent" shall mean a benefit of equal value when computed at regular interest on the basis of the tables last adopted by the board.

(3) "Annuity" shall mean annual payments for life derived from the accumulated contributions of a member.

(4) "Average final compensation" shall mean the average annual earnable compensation of a member during the three years of successive creditable service during which the member's earnable compensation was the highest, or if the member has less than three years of creditable service, it shall mean the member's average annual earnable compensation during the member's total creditable service. An increase in compensation in excess of 10 percent in any of the years used to calculate average final compensation shall be deemed to be designed to unjustifiably inflate the member's retirement benefits and shall be excluded unless the board determines that such compensation was paid for significant additional duties. For purposes of this subdivision, "senior teacher programs" and similar arrangements do not constitute significant additional duties. For purposes of calculating average final compensation for any member, payments made in lieu of benefits as defined by the board shall not be considered part of a member's average final compensation. For purposes of determining average final compensation for group C members, unused annual or sick leave, termination bonuses, and any other compensation for service not actually performed shall be excluded.

(5) "Beneficiary" shall mean any person in receipt of a pension, an annuity, a retirement allowance or other benefit as provided by the system.

(6) "Board" shall mean the board of trustees of the system provided for in section 1942 of this title to administer the system.

(7) "Creditable service" shall mean membership service plus prior service.

(8) "Earnable compensation" shall mean the full rate of compensation for the performance of professional services paid to a teacher when the teacher works the full normal working time for his or her position, in whatever manner paid, plus all additional wages received by a teacher for duties performed that provide direct educational value to the students. Long-term disability benefits, as long as the teacher remains in an employment relationship with the school district, shall be included.

(9) "Medical board" shall mean the board of physicians provided for in subsection (k) of section 1942 of this title.

(10) "Member" shall mean

(A) "Group A member": any person who is first included in the membership of the system prior to July 1, 1981.

(B) "Group C member": any person who is first included in the membership of the system on or after July 1, 1990, any person who was a group B member on June 30, 1990 who was in service on that date, and any person who was a group B member on June 30, 1990 who was absent from service on that date who returns to service on or after July 1, 1990.

(11) "Membership service" shall mean service as a member for which credit is allowable as provided in subsection (a) of section 1936 or subsection (d) of section 1935 of this title.

(12) "Pension" shall mean annual payments for life derived from money provided by the state.

(13) "Prior service" shall mean service rendered in Vermont prior to July 1, 1947 for which credit is allowable as provided in subsection (b) of section 1936 or subsection (d) of section 1935 of this title.

(14) "Regular interest" shall mean interest at such rate as may be established from time to time by the board as provided in subsection (b) of section 1943 of this title.

(15) "Retirement" shall mean withdrawal from active service with a retirement allowance granted under the provisions of this chapter.

(16) "Retirement allowance" shall mean the sum of the annuity and the pension. All retirement allowances shall be payable in monthly installments; provided, however, that if the retirement allowance is less than twenty dollars per month, it may be paid, at the discretion of the board of trustees, in quarterly or semi-annual installments or in a lump sum of equivalent actuarial value.

(17) "Service" shall mean all service as a teacher for which compensation is received.

(18) "State" shall mean the state of Vermont.

(19) "System" shall mean the state teachers' retirement system of Vermont, as defined in section 1932 of this title.

Subdivision (20) effective until July 1, 2007; see also subdivision (20) set out below.

(20) "Teacher" shall mean any licensed teacher, principal, supervisor, superintendent, or any professional licensed by the state board of education regularly employed for the full normal working time for his or her position in a public day school within the state, or in any school or teacher-training institution located within the state, controlled by the state board of education, and supported wholly by the state; or any teacher, principal, supervisor, superintendent, or any professional regularly employed for the full normal working time for his or her position in any nonsectarian independent school which serves as a high school for the town or city in which the same is located, provided such school is not conducted for personal profit. It shall also mean any person employed in a teaching capacity in certain public independent schools designated for such purposes by the board of trustees in accordance with section 1935 of this title. In all cases of doubt the board of trustees, herein defined, shall determine whether any person is a teacher as defined in this chapter. It shall not mean a person who is teaching with an emergency license.

Subdivision (20) effective July 1, 2007; see also subdivision (20) set out above.

(20) "Teacher" shall mean any licensed teacher, principal, supervisor, superintendent, or any professional licensed by the Vermont standards board for professional educators regularly employed for the full normal working time for his or her position in a public day school within the state, or in any school or teacher-training institution located within the state, controlled by the state board of education, and supported wholly by the state; or any teacher, principal, supervisor, superintendent, or any professional regularly employed for the full normal working time for his or her position in any nonsectarian independent school which serves as a high school for the town or city in which the same is located, provided such school is not conducted for personal profit. It shall also mean any person employed in a teaching capacity in certain public independent schools designated for such purposes by the board of trustees in accordance with section 1935 of this title. In all cases of doubt the board of trustees, herein defined, shall determine whether any person is a teacher as defined in this chapter. It shall not mean a person who is teaching with an emergency license. (Amended 1981, No. 41, § 23; 1989, No. 78, § 2; 1989, No. 169 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2; 1991, No. 24, § 11; No. 64, § 6, eff. June 18, 1991; 1991, No. 247 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 1995, No. 36, §§ 3, 4; 2003, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 297d; 2005, No. 214 (Adj. Sess.), § 3.)