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S3496
SENATE, No. 3496
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 12, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
���� Permits non-instructional staff member retired from
PERS to return to employment in school district for up to two years without
reenrollment in PERS if employment commences during remainder of 2025-2026 and
entirety of the 2026-2027 school years.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning a return to employment in a school district by non-instructional
staff during the 2025-2026
and 2026-2027
school years after retirement from the Public Employees� Retirement System.������
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� a. Notwithstanding the
provisions of section 27 of P.L.1966, c.217 (C.43:15A-57.2) to the
contrary, the cancellation, reenrollment, and additional retirement allowance
provisions of subsection a. of section 27 of P.L.1966, c.217 (C.43:15A-57.2) shall
not apply to a former member of the Public Employees� Retirement System who is
a non-instructional staff member and who, after having been granted a
retirement allowance, becomes employed by a board of education in a position of
critical need as determined by the State Commissioner of Education on a
contractual basis for a term of not more than one year; except that the
cancellation, reenrollment, and additional retirement allowance provisions
shall apply if the former member becomes employed within 120 days with the
employer from which the member retired.� Nothing herein shall preclude a former
member so reemployed with a board of education from renewing a contract for one
additional year; provided that the total period of employment with any
individual board of education does not exceed a two-year period, unless so
approved by the Commissioner of Education as being in the best interests of the
school district; and provided that no such renewal shall provide the former
member an election regarding whether or not to be reenrolled.
���� The former member�s retirement
shall have been a bona fide retirement and any employment or reemployment under
this section shall not be prearranged before retirement.
���� b.��� A school district of a
board of education with a position of critical need, as determined by the
Commissioner of Education, seeking to reemploy a former member pursuant to the
provisions of subsection a. of this section shall demonstrate to the board of education
the need for reemploying such members prior to reemployment by the board of
education.
���� This section shall apply only
with regard to a non-instructional staff member whose reemployment with any
board of education commences during the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year
and the entirety of the 2026-2027 school year.
���� c.���� As used in this
section, �non-instructional staff member� means a New Jersey school-based
employee whose position does not require a New Jersey Department of Education
certification and who is or was enrolled in the Public Employees� Retirement
System.
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
����� This bill would permit a
non-instructional staff member who retired from the Public Employees�
Retirement System (PERS) to return to work full time with a board of education
in a position of critical need, as determined by the State Commissioner of
Education, without being reenrolled in the PERS if reemployment commences
during the remainder of the 2025-2026 school year and the entirety of the 2026-2027
school year.� As defined in the bill, �non-instructional staff member� means a
New Jersey school-based employee whose position does not require a New Jersey
Department of Education (DOE) certification and who is enrolled in the PERS.
���� If the retired
non-instructional staff member returns to work with the former employer, it
must occur more than 120 days after the retirement. This bill will permit the
non-instructional staff member to receive the PERS retirement allowance as well
as a salary.� The bill permits the return to work under a contract for one
year, which may be renewed only for one additional year. The total period of
reemployment with any individual board of education cannot exceed a two-year
period, unless so approved by the Commissioner of Education as being in the
best interests of the school district. Under the bill, the former member�s
retirement must have been a bona fide retirement and any employment or
reemployment under the bill must not be prearranged before retirement.
���� Under the bill, a school
district of a board of education with a position of critical need seeking to
reemploy a former member pursuant to the provisions of the bill is required to
demonstrate to the board of education the need for reemploying such members
prior to reemployment.
���� �Current law has a
substantially similar provision to permit certain Teachers� Pension and Annuity
Fund (TPAF) retirees to return to work with a board of education in a TPAF
position as a certificated superintendent, certificated administrator, teacher,
or professional staff member providing special services, for a limited period
of time, without reenrollment in the TPAF.