Legislation that passed the House K-12 Education Committee on Tuesday proposes reviving the expired 2019 law (S.L. 2019-110) that allowed “high-need retired teachers” to work full-time on one-year renewable contracts in “high-need schools” without an earnings cap and still receive full retirement benefits. High-need school is defined as any school that, at any point on or after July 1, 2017, is or was Title I, or receives an overall school performance grade of D or F.
 
House Bill 106, introduced by Rep. Todd Carver (R-Iredell), would reinstate that 2019 law that expired in 2021 but also would expand it to allow retired teachers to work 2 months before their scheduled return, thereby expanding eligibility to recent retirees. Legislative staff and State Retirement System staff have determined that a new private letter ruling will be needed from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) if these expansions occur.
 
SB 441, a similar bill from Senator Kevin Corbin (R-Macon), would reinstate the 2019 law and keep the same eligibility requirements intact without expansion. Since the state previously received a private letter ruling from the IRS confirming the 2019 law did not violate any federal retirement regulations, that law can be reinstated with the same previous eligibility limits and without additional costs to the state. No new additional ruling from the IRS would be needed either.
 
NCASA is working with bill sponsors in both chambers to get a strong final version of this legislation enacted to help school districts with filling critical teaching vacancies.
 
HB 106 now moves to the House Committee on Pensions and Retirement, and SB 441 remains in the Senate Rules Committee.