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An Act To Address the Shortage of School Administrative Professionals
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §17859, as amended by PL 2015, c. 321, §1, is further amended to read:
§ 17859.Retiring and returning to work
 
1. Restoration to service.   Any state employee or, teacher or school administrator who has reached normal retirement age and who retires after September 1, 2011 may be restored to service for up to 5 years. The decision to hire a retired state employee or, retired teacher or retired school administrator under this section is at the discretion of the appointing authority. The retired state employee or, retired teacher or retired school administrator must have had a bona fide termination of employment in accordance with state and federal laws and rules, may not return to employment after retirement with the same employer for at least 30 calendar days after the termination of employment and may not return to employment before the effective date of the person's retirement. For the purposes of this section, "school administrator" means a superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal or assistant principal.
 
1-A. Restoration to work of classroom-based employees.   Effective August 1, 2014, a classroom-based employee who has reached normal retirement age and who retires after September 1, 2011 may be restored to service as a classroom-based employee in a school in the unorganized territory or with a school administrative unit as defined in Title 20-A, section 1, subsection 26:
 
A. In one-year contracts, which may be nonconsecutive. The maximum time that a classroom-based employee may be restored to service with an individual school administrative unit pursuant to this paragraph is 5 years;
 
B. Subject to the 5-year restriction specified in subsection 1 and the 75% compensation limitation for retired state employees and, retired teachers and retired school administrators specified in subsection 2, paragraph A; or
 
C. In any combination of paragraphs A and B, as long as the total time the classroom-based employee is restored to service does not exceed 10 years with an individual school administrative unit.
 
The retired classroom-based employee must have had a bona fide termination of employment in accordance with state and federal laws and rules, may not return to employment after retirement with the same employer for at least 30 calendar days after the termination of employment and may not return to employment before the effective date of the person's retirement.
 
For purposes of this section, "classroom-based employee" means a teacher whose principal function is to introduce new learning to students in the classroom or to provide support in the classroom during the introduction of new learning to students.
 
1-B.  Restoration to work of school administrators.     Effective October 1, 2017, a school administrator who has reached normal retirement age and who retires after September 1, 2011 may be restored to service as a school administrator in a school in the unorganized territory or with a school administrative unit as defined in Title 20-A, section 1, subsection 26:
 
A.  In one-year contracts, which may be nonconsecutive. The maximum time that a school administrator may be restored to service with an individual school administrative unit pursuant to this paragraph is 5 years;
 
B.  Subject to the 5-year restriction specified in subsection 1 and the 75% compensation limitation for retired state employees, retired teachers and retired school administrators specified in subsection 2, paragraph A; or
 
C.  In any combination of paragraphs A and B, as long as the total time the school administrator is restored to service does not exceed 10 years with an individual school administrative unit.
 
The retired school administrator must have had a bona fide termination of employment in accordance with state and federal laws and rules, may not return to employment after retirement with the same employer for at least 30 calendar days after the termination of employment and may not return to employment before the effective date of the person's retirement.
 
2. Compensation and benefits.   The compensation and benefits of the retired state employee or, retired teacher or retired school administrator who returns to service after retirement as set out in subsection 1 is governed by this subsection.
 
A. The compensation of the retired state employee or, retired teacher or retired school administrator who returns to service must be set at 75% of the compensation established for the position to be filled, at a step determined by the appointing authority. The compensation of the retired classroom-based employee who returns to service as a classroom-based employee pursuant to subsection 1-A, paragraph A must be set at 100% of the compensation established for the position to be filled, at a step determined by the school administrative unit, for up to the maximum 5-year period that a classroom-based employee may contract with an individual school administrative unit. The compensation of the retired school administrator who returns to service as a school administrator pursuant to subsection 1-B, paragraph A must be set at 100% of the compensation established for the position to be filled, at a step determined by the school administrative unit, for up to the maximum 5-year period that a school administrator may contract with an individual school administrative unit.
 
B. The retired state employee or, retired teacher or retired school administrator who returns to service under this section is not a member and therefore may not accrue additional creditable service or change the retired state employee's or, retired teacher's or retired school administrator's earnable compensation for benefit calculation purposes.
 
C. During the period of reemployment, the retired state employee or, retired teacher or retired school administrator is not entitled to health insurance, dental insurance or life insurance benefits. The retired state employee or, retired teacher or retired school administrator is entitled to all other benefits for the reemployment position under collective bargaining agreements or civil service laws and rules. Health insurance benefits must be provided under the provisions of section 285, subsection 1-A for retired state employees or Title 20-A, section 13451 for retired teachers or retired school administrators and life insurance benefits must be provided under the provisions of section 18055.
 
3. Contributions to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System and state group health plan.   The portion of the employer contribution that goes to pay the retirement system for the unfunded liability and the state group health plan for retiree health care must be continued and based on the retired state employee's or, retired teacher's or retired school administrator's compensation as provided under subsection 2 during the reemployment period.
 
4. Notification requirements.   Employers under this section are required to identify and report to the retirement system, in the manner specified by the retirement system, each individual who is a retiree who becomes an employee of the employer under the option provided in this section. Departments shall also report each retiree who becomes an employee to the Bureau of the Budget in a manner specified by the bureau. The employer shall report each such employee whenever and so long as the employee is the employer's employee.
 
5. Exclusion.   A retired state employee or, retired teacher or retired school administrator who is hired as a substitute teacher is not subject to the restoration to service 5-year limitation in subsection 1 or the compensation limitation in subsection 2, paragraph A.
 
SUMMARY
This bill provides that limitations on conditions of restoration to service after retirement enacted in 2011 for state employees and teachers apply to school administrators. It also provides that, effective October 1, 2017, school administrators who have reached normal retirement age and who have retired after September 1, 2011 may be restored to service as school administrators for a maximum of 10 years: 5 years under one-year contracts with compensation set at 100% of the compensation established for the position and 5 years with compensation set at 75%.