GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001
S	1
SENATE BILL 754
     

 
Short Title:	Retired Professional Educators Return to Work.	()	
Sponsors:	Senators Dannelly;  Albertson, Allran, Carter, Clodfelter, Foxx, Garwood, Hagan, Horton, Hoyle, Jordan, Kerr, Kinnaird, Lee, Lucas, Martin of Guilford, and Rand.	
Referred to:	Education/Higher Education.	
April 2, 2001

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to enable retired school employees to return to the classroom the next year without losing retiremnt 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 12 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 12 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 12 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 12 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. 1998‑212, 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.  This act is effective when it becomes law and expires June 30, 2003.