As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

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(1) “Actuarial reserve basis” means a basis under which the liabilities of the retirement system are determined under acceptable actuarial methods and under which assets are accumulated under a program designed to achieve a proper balance between the accumulated assets and the liabilities of the system.

(2) “Amortization of unfunded liabilities” means: (A) For fiscal years ending on or before June 30, 2019, a systematic program of annual payments determined as a level per cent of expected member annual salaries in lieu of a lump sum payment; and (B) for fiscal years ending on or after June 30, 2020, a systematic program of annual payments, transitioning equally over five consecutive fiscal years from a level per cent of expected annual member salaries to a level payment, in lieu of a lump sum payment.

(3) “Annual salary” means the annual salary rate for service as a Connecticut teacher during a school year but not including unused sick leave, unused vacation, terminal pay, coaching or extra duty assignments, unless compensation for coaching or extra duty assignment was included in salary for which contributions were made prior to July 1, 1971. In no event shall annual salary include amounts determined by the board to be included for the purpose of inflating the member’s average annual salary. The inclusion in annual salary of amounts paid to the member, in lieu of payment by the employer for the cost of benefits, insurance, or individual retirement arrangements which in prior years had been paid by the employer and not included in the member’s annual salary, shall be prima facie evidence that such amounts are included for the purpose of inflating the member’s average annual salary. Annual salary shall not (A) include payments the timing of which may be directed by the member, (B) include payments to a superintendent pursuant to an individual contract between such superintendent and a board of education, of amounts which are not included in base salary, or (C) exceed the maximum amount allowed under Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code for the applicable limitation year, provided in no event shall the limitation under Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code apply to the annual salary of a member whose membership began prior to January 1, 1996, if such limitation would reduce the amount of the member’s annual salary below the amount permitted for calculation of the member’s retirement benefit under chapter 167a, without regard to the limitation under Section 401(a)(17) of the Internal Revenue Code. Annual salary shall include amounts paid to the member during a sabbatical leave during which mandatory contributions were remitted, provided such member returned to full-time teaching for at least five full years following the completion of such leave.

(4) “Average annual salary” means the average of the three highest annual salaries received as an active member.

(5) “Board” means the Teachers’ Retirement Board.

(6) “Child” means a natural child, an adopted child, or a stepchild of a deceased member who has been a stepchild for at least one year immediately prior to the date on which the member died. A child is a “dependent child” of a deceased member if at the time of the member’s death (A) the member was living with the child or providing or obligated to provide, by agreement or court order, a reasonable portion of the support of the child, and (B) the child (i) is unmarried and has not attained age eighteen, or (ii) is disabled and such disability began prior to the child’s attaining age eighteen.

(7) “Contributions” means amounts withheld pursuant to this chapter and paid to the board by an employer from compensation payable to a member. Prior to July 1, 1989, “mandatory contributions” are contributions required to be withheld under this chapter and consist of five per cent regular contributions and “one per cent contributions”. From July 1, 1989, to June 30, 1992, “mandatory contributions” are contributions required to be withheld under this chapter and consist of five per cent regular contributions and one per cent health contributions. From July 1, 1992, to June 30, 2004, “mandatory contributions” are contributions required to be withheld under this chapter and consist of six per cent “regular contributions” and one per cent health contributions. From July 1, 2004, to December 31, 2017, “mandatory contributions” are contributions required to be withheld under this chapter and consist of six per cent regular contributions and one and one-fourth per cent health contributions. From January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019, inclusive, “mandatory contributions” are contributions required to be withheld under this chapter and consist of seven per cent “regular contributions” and one and one-fourth per cent health contributions. On and after January 1, 2020, “mandatory contributions” are contributions required to be withheld under this chapter and consist of seven per cent “regular contributions” and one and one-fourth per cent health contributions, except that no health contributions shall be required for an employee of the state that (A) has completed the vesting service necessary to receive health benefits provided to retired state employees, and (B) does not participate in any group health insurance plans maintained for retired teachers. Nothing in this subdivision shall affect any other obligation of such a state employee to contribute to the state’s retiree health care trust fund. “Voluntary contributions” are contributions by a member authorized to be withheld under section 10-183i.

(8) “Coparticipant” means a person who the member elects at the time of retirement to receive guaranteed lifetime benefits upon the death of the member.

(9) “Credited interest” means interest at the rate from time to time fixed by the board consistent with industry standards and practices. Such interest shall be applied to a member’s account based on the balance as of the previous June thirtieth. Credited interest shall accrue on any mandatory contributions which were due but not remitted prior to the close of the school year for which salary was paid.

(10) “Current service” means service rendered in the current fiscal year.

(11) “Dependent former spouse” means a former spouse of a deceased member who (A) has in his or her care a dependent child of the deceased member; and (B) was receiving, or was entitled to receive, from the deceased member at the time of the death of the deceased member, at least one-half of his or her support; and (C) has not remarried; and (D) is the parent of the child or adopted the child while married to the member and before the child attained age eighteen or, while married to the member, both of them adopted the child before the child attained age eighteen.

(12) “Dependent parent” means a parent of a deceased member who (A) has reached the age of sixty-five; and (B) has not married after the death of the member; and (C) was receiving at least one-half of his or her support from the member at the time of the member’s death and files proof of such support within two years of the date of the member’s death; and (D) is not receiving, or entitled to a federal or state old age benefit based on the parent’s own earnings, equal to or greater than the amount the parent would be entitled to as a dependent parent under this chapter. A “parent of a deceased member” is (i) the mother or father of a deceased member, (ii) a stepparent of a deceased member by a marriage entered into before the member attained age sixteen, or (iii) an adopting parent of a deceased member who adopted the deceased member before the member attained age sixteen.

(13) “Designated beneficiary” means a person designated on a form prescribed by the board by a member to receive amounts that may become payable under this chapter as the result of the member’s death. If a designated beneficiary is not living at the time of the death of a member, the amounts that would have been payable to the designated beneficiary shall be paid to the member’s estate.

(14) “Disabled” means the inability to perform any teaching service, whether or not such service is performed full-time or part-time, in a public or nonpublic school or a nonschool setting, on a volunteer basis or for compensation, within or without the state, or engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that (A) is permanent or can be expected to last continually for not less than twelve months from the onset of such impairment, or (B) can be expected to result in death or to be of long-continued and indefinite duration, except that during the first twenty-four months that a member is receiving a disability allowance, “disabled” means the inability to perform the usual duties of the member’s occupation by reason of any such impairment.

(15) “Employer” means an elected school committee, a board of education, the State Board of Education, the Office of Early Childhood, the Technical Education and Career System, the Board of Regents for Higher Education or any of the constituent units, the governing body of the Children’s Center and its successors, The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees, the E. O. Smith School, or any other activity, institution or school employing members.

(16) “Formal leave of absence” means any absence from active service in the public schools of Connecticut formally granted by a member’s employer as evidenced by contemporary records of the employer, provided in the case of an absence due to illness, medical or other evidence of such illness may, at the discretion of the Teachers’ Retirement Board, be accepted in lieu of evidence of the formal granting of a leave.

(17) “Formal application of retirement” means: (A) the member’s application, birth certificate or notarized statement supported by other evidence satisfactory to the board, in lieu thereof, (B) records of service, if such records are required by the board to determine a salary rate or years of creditable service, (C) a statement of payment plan, including, if applicable, the fixed period of time selected by a member under Plan C or the coparticipant‘s share designated under Plan D, (D) in the case of an application for a disability benefit, a physician’s, a physician assistant’s or an advanced practice registered nurse’s statement of health, and (E) any other documentation required by the board.

(18) “Funding” means the accumulation of assets in advance of the payment of retirement allowances in accordance with a board-approved actuarial methodology.

(19) “Member” means any Connecticut teacher employed (A) on, and compensated for, the first school day, in accordance with the member’s contractual schedule, and (B) for an average of at least one-half of each school day after the first school day, except that no teacher who under any provision of the general statutes elects not to participate in the system shall be a member unless and until the teacher elects to participate in the system. A member teaching in a nonpublic school classified as a public school by the board under the provisions of this section may continue as a member as long as the member continues to be a teacher in such school even if the school ceases to be so classified. A former teacher who has not withdrawn his or her accumulated contributions shall be an “inactive member”. A member who, during the period of a formal leave of absence granted by his or her employer, but not exceeding an aggregate of ten school months, continues to make mandatory contributions to the board, retains his or her status as an active member.

(20) “Normal cost” means the amount of contribution which the state is required to make into the retirement fund in order to meet the actuarial cost of current service.

(21) “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 Office of Early Childhood, the Board of Regents for Higher Education, or any of its constituent units, The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees, the board of governors or any of its constituent units, the Technical Education and Career System, the E. O. Smith School, the Children’s Center and its successors, the State Education Resource Center established pursuant to section 10-4q of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2013, the State Education Resource Center established pursuant to section 10-357a, joint activities of boards of education authorized by subsection (b) of section 10-158a and (A) any institution supported by the state at which teachers are employed or any incorporated secondary school not under the orders and superintendence of a duly elected school committee or board of education but located in a town not maintaining a high school and providing free tuition to pupils of the town in which it is located, and which has been approved by the State Board of Education under the provisions of part II of chapter 164, or (B) on and after July 1, 2023, any school operated by an interdistrict magnet school operator described in section 10-264s, provided such institution, secondary school or school is classified as a public school by the retirement board.

(22) “Retirement allowance” means payments for life derived from member contributions, including credited interest, and contributions from the state.

(23) “Retired member” means a member who receives a retirement benefit computed pursuant to section 10-183g.

(24) “School year” means the twelve months ending on June thirtieth of each year.

(25) “Surviving spouse” means a widow or widower of a deceased member who (A) was living with the member at the time of the member’s death, or receiving, or entitled by court order or agreement to receive, regular support payments from the member, and (B) has not remarried.

(26) “Survivor” means a surviving spouse, a dependent former spouse, a dependent child and a dependent parent.

(27) “System” means the Connecticut teachers’ retirement system.

(28) “Teacher” means any: (A) Person, including, but not limited to, a teacher, permanent substitute teacher, principal, assistant principal, supervisor, assistant superintendent or superintendent who is employed by a public school in a professional capacity while possessing a certificate or permit, except a school business administration endorsement, issued by the State Board of Education, provided on and after July 1, 1975, such certificate shall be for the position in which the person is then employed, except as provided for in section 10-183qq; (B) person possessing a certificate or permit issued by the State Board of Education, who was hired before July 1, 2022, and who provides health and welfare services for children in a nonprofit school, as provided in section 10-217a, under an oral or written agreement; (C) person who is engaged in teaching or supervising in a program in the state that leads to a high school diploma at a school for adults if the annual salary paid for such service is equal to or greater than the minimum salary paid for a regular, full-time teaching position in the day schools in the town where such service is rendered; (D) member of the professional staff employed at the State Board of Education, the governing body of the public school, kindergarten to grade twelve, inclusive, system, who is currently a member in the system and maintains certification; (E) member of the professional staff employed in an educational role at the Office of Early Childhood, the Board of Regents for Higher Education or any of the constituent units, or the Technical Education and Career System; (F) faculty member employed by The University of Connecticut in an educational role; and (G) staff member employed in an educational role at the State Education Resource Center established pursuant to section 10-4q of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2013, or the State Education Resource Center established pursuant to section 10-357a, employed in a professional capacity while possessing a certificate or permit issued by the State Board of Education, provided such staff member was hired prior to July 1, 2022. A “permanent substitute teacher” is a person who serves as a substitute teacher in the same assignment for an entire school year.

(29) “Unfunded liability” means the actuarially determined value of the liability for service before the date of the actuarial valuation less the accumulated assets in the retirement fund.

(30) “Internal Revenue Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, and any regulations promulgated under or interpretations of said code that may affect this chapter.

(31) “Limitation year” means the twelve-month period beginning each July first and ending each June thirtieth.

(32) “Educational role” or “educational capacity” means having duties and responsibilities that would require a certificate issued by the State Department of Education if performed in a public school.