a. Any person who serves, while on an approved leave of absence from regular duties as a teacher, as an officer of a local, county or State labor organization which represents, or is affiliated with an organization which represents, teachers as defined in N.J.S.18A:66-2, shall receive credit in the retirement system for the service. The person receiving the credit shall be liable, with respect to the service to be credited, for payment to the retirement system of both the contributions that would have been required under N.J.S. 18A:66-29 and N.J.S. 18A:66-31 and the contributions that would have been required under N.J.S. 18A:66-33 if that service had been rendered as regular teaching service to the employer granting the leave of absence. The contributions shall be based upon the compensation that would have been received by the person under the locally negotiated salary guide had that person remained in regular teaching service.

b. Any person who, prior to the effective date of this 1989 amendatory and supplementary act, has rendered service as defined in subsection a. and who has not received credit in the retirement system for that service may elect, within one year after that effective date, to purchase credit for the service. The cost of the purchase shall be computed by applying the factor, supplied by the actuary as being applicable to the member’s age at the time of the purchase and necessary to provide for the full cost, as considered in developing the purchase factors for military service, attributable to the purchased credit, to the member’s salary at that time for a member in regular teaching service or the salary the member would be receiving at that time on the locally negotiated salary guide for a member serving as an officer of a local, county or State labor organization. All other terms of the purchase and the credit granted shall be as stipulated for the purchase of previous membership service by N.J.S. 18A:66-9

L.1989,c.198,s.2.