Berry v. BD. OF TRUSTEES, RETIREMENT SYS.

CLIFFORD, Justice,

with whom ROBERTS and GLASSMAN, Justices, join dissenting.

In my view, the language of 5 M.R.S.A. § 17001 is clear that the payment of up to thirty days of accumulated sick leave constitutes earnable compensation, and does not support the construction placed on it by the Board. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.

What constitutes “earnable compensation” is crucial to determining the average final compensation on which the retirement benefits of teachers is based. To determine thé meaning of a statute, we look first to its language. Porter v. Maine State Retirement Sys., 609…