(40 ILCS 5/16-150.1)

Sec. 16-150.1. Return to teaching in subject shortage area.

(a) As used in this Section, "eligible employment" means employment beginning on or after July 1, 2003 and ending no later than June 30, 2024, in a subject shortage area at a qualified school, in a position requiring certification under the law governing the certification of teachers.

As used in this Section, "qualified school" means a public elementary or secondary school that meets all of the following requirements:

(1) At the time of hiring a retired teacher under this Section, the school is experiencing a shortage of teachers in the subject shortage area for which the teacher is hired.

(2) The school district to which the school belongs has complied with the requirements of subsection (e), and the regional superintendent has certified that compliance to the System.

(3) If the school district to which the school belongs provides group health benefits for its teachers generally, substantially similar health benefits are made available for teachers participating in the program under this Section, without any limitations based on pre-existing conditions.

(b) An annuitant receiving a retirement annuity under this Article (other than a disability retirement annuity) may engage in eligible employment at a qualified school without impairing his or her retirement status or retirement annuity, subject to the following conditions:

(1) the eligible employment does not begin within the school year during which service was terminated;

(2) the annuitant has not received any early retirement incentive under Section 16-133.3, 16-133.4, or 16-133.5;

(3) if the annuitant retired before age 60 and with less than 34 years of service, the eligible employment does not begin within the year following the effective date of the retirement annuity;

(4) if the annuitant retired at age 60 or above or with 34 or more years of service, the eligible employment does not begin within the 90 days following the effective date of the retirement annuity; and

(5) before the eligible employment begins, the employer notifies the System in writing of the annuitant's desire to participate in the program established under this Section.

(c) An annuitant engaged in eligible employment in accordance with subsection (b) shall be deemed a participant in the program established under this Section for so long as he or she remains employed in eligible employment.

(d) A participant in the program established under this Section continues to be a retirement annuitant, rather than an active teacher, for all of the purposes of this Code, but shall be deemed an active teacher for other purposes, such as inclusion in a collective bargaining unit, eligibility for group health benefits, and compliance with the laws governing the employment, regulation, certification, treatment, and conduct of teachers.

With respect to an annuitant's eligible employment under this Section, neither employee nor employer contributions shall be made to the System and no additional service credit shall be earned. Eligible employment does not affect the annuitant's final average salary or the amount of the retirement annuity.

(e) Before hiring a teacher under this Section, the school district to which the school belongs must do the following:

(1) If the school district to which the school belongs has honorably dismissed, within the calendar year preceding the beginning of the school term for which it seeks to employ a retired teacher under the program established in this Section, any teachers who are legally qualified to hold positions in the subject shortage area and have not yet begun to receive their retirement annuities under this Article, the vacant positions must first be tendered to those teachers.

(2) For a period of at least 90 days during the 6 months preceding the beginning of either the fall or spring term for which it seeks to employ a retired teacher under the program established in this Section, the school district must, on an ongoing basis, (i) advertise its vacancies in the subject shortage area in employment bulletins published by college and university placement offices located near the school; (ii) search for teachers legally qualified to fill those vacancies through the Illinois Education Job Bank; and (iii) post all vacancies on the school district's website and list the vacancy in an online job portal or database.

A school district replacing a teacher who is unable to continue employment with the school district because of documented illness, injury, or disability that occurred after being hired by a school district under this Section shall be exempt from the provisions of paragraph (2) for 90 school days. However, the school district must on an ongoing basis comply with items (i), (ii), and (iii) of paragraph (2).

The school district must submit documentation of its compliance with this subsection to the regional superintendent. Upon receiving satisfactory documentation from the school district, the regional superintendent shall certify the district's compliance with this subsection to the System.

(f) This Section applies without regard to whether the annuitant was in service on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.

(Source: P.A. 101-49, eff. 7-12-19; 102-440, eff. 8-20-21.)