The attorney general's office received a request from the Teachers' Retirement Board on Thursday for an opinion about state law pertaining to pensions of public educators, according to the attorney general's office spokeswoman, Jaclyn M. Falkowski.

Falkowski said Friday that her office was in the process of reviewing the request from TRB Administrator Darlene Perez, and that Attorney General George Jepsen had yet to determine whether he would examine and release an opinion on the law.

"There is a lot of careful consideration that goes into a formal opinion," said Falkowski, adding that formal opinions are public record and are posted to the attorney general's website upon their release.

Legislators and lawyers may consult opinions written by the attorney general for guidance in interpretation of law.

Perez specifically has requested clarification on the part of state law that requires that someone receiving Connecticut teacher retirement benefits cannot receive a salary that exceeds 45 percent of the maximum salary level for the position, if salary is coming from public funds, according to Falkowski.

Melodie Peters, president of the American Federation of Teachers Connecticut union, said Thursday that the request for an opinion was inspired in part by the employment contract of Waterford Superintendent Jerome Belair.

Belair announced during a Waterford Board of Education meeting Thursday that he would end his tenure with the district this June, reversing his previously stated plans to stay on with the district through the 2015-16 school year.

A salary of $220,000 was slated for Belair for the 2014-15 school year. In September, he announced he would retire and said he would end his tenure at the district in June 2015. The contract enacted at the time of his announced retirement split the $220,000 in compensation between a salary of $99,000 and retirement benefits of $121,000.

The deal allowed Belair to begin collecting $140,000 in pension benefits from the state, in addition to the $220,000 compensation package from district. Perez in October said that funneling a portion of the compensation package into retirement accounts was legal, though not in the spirit of the law.

In February, the Board of Education voted 7-2 to extend the contract on the same terms through 2015-16. AFT Connecticut responded earlier this month by taking out an ad in The Day urging town residents to attend Thursday's Board of Education meeting and voice opposition to keeping the same terms in the extension, the terms of which were to be discussed by the board at that meeting.

t.townsend@theday.com

Twitter: @ConnecticuTess