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Hallett v. Contributory Retirement Appeal Board3/16/2000
Suffolk.
December 7, 1999.
Contributory Retirement Appeal Board. Teachers' Retirement Board. School and School Committee, Retirement benefits. Statute, Construction. Words, "Regular compensation," "Salary." Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on October 14, 1997. The case was heard by David M. Roseman, J. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court.
This case presents the question whether a teacher who was paid a fixed salary for both his regular teaching duties and his additional services as director of driver education is entitled to have the hourly wages he also earned teaching driver education before and after normal school hours count toward calculating his retirement allowance pursuant to G. L. c. 32, ? 5 A Superior Court judge affirmed the decision of the Contributory Retirement Appeal Board (CRAB), ruling that the plaintiff's hourly pay is not included as part of " egular compensation" pursuant to G. L. c. 32, Sect. 1. We transferred the case here on our own motion, and now affirm the judge's decision but on different grounds.
1. Facts and procedural history.
The facts are undisputed. The plaintiff taught in the Swampscott public schools for thirty- five years. In addition to his regular teaching duties, he was appointed as the director of the driver education program in 1982, and served in that capacity until his retirement. During that time he also taught driver education with both a classroom component that took place before school hours and road instruction that took place after school hours. According to the collective bargaining agreement, the plaintiff was paid a specific sum for his service as the director of driver education, but was paid an hourly rate for the classroom and road instruction.
The pertinent statute, G. L. c. 32, Sect. 1, states, in relevant part:
"'Regular compensation' . . . shall mean the full salary, wages or other compensation in whatever form . . . . In the case of a teacher employed in a public day school who is a member of the teachers' retirement system, salary payable under the terms of an annual contract for additional services in such a school and also compensation for services rendered by said teacher in connection with a school lunch program or for services in connection with a program of instruction of physical education and athletic contests . . . shall be regarded as regular compensation rather than as bonus or overtime and shall be included in the salary on which deductions are to be paid [to the retirement fund] . . ." (emphases added).
When the plaintiff retired, the teachers' retirement board (board) counted the fixed stipend the plaintiff earned as the director of driver education as regular compensation for purposes of calculating his retirement but ruled that "hourly payments made for classroom and on the road instruction . . . performed before school, after school, on weekends, during the summer vacation as well as other vacations" were not counted as regular compensation (emphasis added). CRAB and the judge each affirmed the board's decision.
2. Discussion.
In affirming CRAB's decision, the judge relied, as did CRAB, on Roberts vs. Contributory Retirement Appeal Board, Plymouth Superior Court, No. 93-1217 (Jan. 12, 1995), which turned on the meaning of the words "in a public day school" in G. L. c. 32, Sect. 1. Here we conclude that the plain language of the statute provides a more straightforward solution to this case and does not require us to decide either the meaning of the phrases "public day school" and "in such a school" or whether the Roberts ca
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