GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
H	1
HOUSE BILL 1208

 
 
Short Title:	Retired Sch. Personnel Encouraged to Work.	()	
Sponsors:	Representatives Shubert;  Harrington, Morris, Russell, Thompson, and Davis.	
Referred to:	Education.	
April 12, 2001

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ENABLE RETIRED SCHOOL EMPLOYEES TO RETURN TO THE public schools after six months WITHOUT LOSING RETIREMeNT BENEFITS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 135-3(8)c., as enacted by Section 28.24(a) of S.L. 1998‑212, and rewritten by Section 67 of S.L. 1998‑217 and by Section 8.24(b) of S.L. 2000‑67 reads as rewritten:
"c.	(Effective until June 30, 2003) Should a beneficiary who retired on an early or service retirement allowance under this Chapter be reemployed, or otherwise engaged to perform services, by an employer participating in the Retirement System on a part‑time, temporary, interim, or on a fee‑for‑service basis, whether contractual or otherwise, and if such beneficiary earns an amount in any calendar year which exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the reported compensation, excluding terminal payments, during the 12 months of service preceding the effective date of retirement, or twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), whichever is greater, as hereinafter indexed, then the retirement allowance shall be suspended as of the first day of the month following the month in which the reemployment earnings exceed the amount above, for the balance of the calendar year. The retirement allowance of the beneficiary shall be reinstated as of January 1 of each year following suspension. The amount that may be earned before suspension shall be increased on January 1 of each year by the ratio of the Consumer Price Index to the Index one year earlier, calculated to the nearest tenth of a percent ( 1/10 of 1%).
The computation of postretirement earnings of a beneficiary under this sub‑subdivision, G.S. 135‑3(8)c., who has been retired at least six months and has not been employed in any capacity, except as a substitute  teacher or other substitute employee, with a public school for at least six months immediately preceding the effective date of reemployment, shall not include earnings while the beneficiary is employed  on a substitute, interim, or permanent basis in a public school.  A local board of education shall certify to the Retirement System that a beneficiary is employed  by  that local school administrative unit under the provisions of this sub‑subdivision and as a retired  professional educator as the term is defined under the provisions of G.S. 115C‑325(a)(5a).
Beneficiaries employed under this sub‑subdivision are not entitled to any benefits otherwise provided under this Chapter as a result of this period of employment."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑325(a)(5a), as enacted by Section 28.24(c) of S.L. 1998‑212 and rewritten by Section 67.1(a) of S.L. 1998‑217, reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Definition of Terms. – As used in this section unless the context requires otherwise:
…
(5a)	(Effective until June 30, 2003) "Retired  professional educator" means a beneficiary of the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System of North Carolina  who:
a.	Was previously employed as a (i) teacher, (ii) principal, (iii) assistant principal, (iv) superintendent, (v) associate or assistant superintendent, (vi) finance officer, (vii) athletic trainer, (viii) director, supervisor, or coordinator in transportation, child nutrition, health education, vocational education, community schools, special education, math/science, maintenance, or other area, (ix) school nurse, (x) school psychologist, (xi) school counselor, (xii) school social worker, (xiii) school media specialist, (xiv) speech and language pathologist, or (xv) audiologist,
b.	 Has been retired at least six months,
c.	 Has not been employed in any capacity, other than as a substitute  teacher or other substitute employee, with a local board of education for at least six months, immediately preceding the effective date of reemployment,
d.	 Is determined by a local board of education to have had satisfactory performance during the last year of employment by a local board of education, and
e.	 Is employed  as provided in G.S. 135‑3(8)c.
A retired  professional educator who is a teacher as defined in subdivision (6) of this subsection shall be treated the same as a probationary teacher except that a retired  professional educator is not eligible for career status.
…."
SECTION 3. G.S. 115C-316(d), as enacted by Section 28.24(b) of S.L. 998-212, reads as rewritten:
"(d)	(Expires June 30, 2003) A local board of education may pay a retired  professional educator, as that term is defined in G.S. 115C‑325(a)(5a) no more than the employee would have received on the  appropriate salary schedule, excluding longevity, had the employee not retired."
SECTION 4.  The Board of Trustees of the North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System through the Office of the Attorney General shall request a letter of determination or ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, United States Department of Treasury, as to whether the status of the North Carolina Local Governmental Employees' Retirement System as a governmental plan would be adversely affected if the waiting period before a retired (i) teacher, (ii) principal, (iii) assistant principal, (iv) superintendent, (v) associate or assistant superintendent, (vi) finance officer, (vii) athletic trainer, (viii) director, supervisor, or coordinator in transportation, child nutrition, health education, vocational education, community schools, special education, math/science, maintenance, or other area, (ix) school nurse, (x) school psychologist, (xi) school counselor, (xii) school social worker, (xiii) school media specialist, (xiv) speech and language pathologist, or (xv) audiologist, can return to work in less than six months without losing retirement benefits and, if so, how much the waiting period can be reduced.  The request shall be made to the Internal Revenue Service no later than 30 days after this act becomes law.
SECTION 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2001, and expires June 30, 2003.