Opinion letter to the Honorable Corley Thompson, Jr.

May 10, 1971 Honorable Corley Thompson, Jr . State Representative Forty- first District Room 202-D Capitol Building Jeffer son City , Missouri 65101 Dear Representative Thompson: Answered by Letter - Jones OPINION LETTER NO. 6 FILED ·'~ This letter is to acknowledge receipt of your r equest for an opinion from this office which reads in part as follows: "If two different organizations both able t o make contributions to the Public Ret ire- ment System to the State of Mi ssouri share an employee between them, can both organi- zations agree to put their proportionate share into t he Public Retirement System for that teacher? • • • "May a teacher employed by a professional association during a school year while on leave from teaching in that district be an active participant in the Public Retirement System? 11 In rendering an opinion on this matter, "the public retire- ment system" has been assumed to be the Public School Retirement System of Missouri as provided f or by Sections 169.010 through 169.130, RSMo 1969. It is also our understanding that the "two organizations" referred to in your first question are a school Honorable Corley Thompson, Jr. district and a local teachers' association which is affiliated with the Missouri State Teachers' Association, a statewide non- profit educational association. In response to your request, the word "teacher" is defined in part in subsection 16 of Section 169 .010, RSf~o 1969, as follows: 11 'Teacher' shall mean any teacher, teach- er-secretary, substitute teacher, super- visor , principal, supervising principal, superintendent or assistant superintendent, school nurse, or librarian who shall teach or be employed by any public school, state college or state teachers' college on a full-time basis and who shall be dury-- certificated under the law governing the certification of teachers ; ••• " (Emphasis ours). In addition, the word "employer" is defined in subsection 7 of Section 169.010, RSMo 1969, as follows: "'Employer' shall mean the district that makes payment dir ectly to t he t eacher or employee for his services ; •.• n It should also be noted that subsection 2 of Section 169.130, RSMo 1969, reads as follows: "Any person, duly certificated under the l aw governing t he certification of teacher s, employed full time by any statewide nonprofit educational association or organization serving on an educational professional basis through its Membership the active members of the public school retirement system of Missouri or the public school districts maintaini ng high schools i n this state, may be a member of the public school r eti rement system of Missouri. Any such person who becomes a member before July 1, 1955, may claim and receive credit for prior service. The con- tributions required to be made by the mem- ber's employer shall be paid by the association or organization." As a result of the above statut ory provisions, it is our view in response to your first question that a teacher has to be employed by one employer and that he or she has to be employed by -2- Honorable Corley Thompson, Jr. that employer on a full time basis in order to be eligible for membership in the Public School Retirement System of Missouri. In regard to your next question, the assumption is made that the "professional association" refers to a statewide non- profit educational association or organization and that the in- dividual would be employed full time and receive full salary from the association. Under these circumstances, it is our view that if an individual is duly certificated under the law governing the certification of teachers, and is employed rull time by a state- wide nonprorit educational association or organization as set forth in subsection 2 or Section 169.130, RSMo 1969, then the individual is eligible to be an active participant in the retirement system; provided that, the contributions required to be made by the in- dividual's employer shall be pai d by the association or organi- zation as set forth in subsection 2 or Section 169.130, RSMo 1969 , to the retirement system, while t he individual is on leave from teaching . - 3- Very truly yours, J Oim C. DANFORTH Attorney General