Jacob Ogles
Legislation from two Central Florida lawmakers could allow more retired teachers back in the classroom.
Sen. Vic Torres and Rep. Rita Harris have filed bills (SB 896, HB 905) that would make changes to the Deferred Retirement Option Program, or DROP. If passed, the legislation would remove any time limitations from eligibility.
This effectively would allow school personnel, including teachers and other school staff, to return to work without impacting their retirement.
“Florida is dealing with a staff shortage in their schools, and it’s not only a shortage of teachers, it’s also a shortage of support staff like bus drivers, school counselors and even school nurses and in fact, retired faculty can’t even come back to volunteer at a school,” said Harris, an Orlando Democrat.
“This bill would allow retired school staff to come back into employment and fill the staffing gap to ensure Florida students aren’t waiting on the side of the road for a bus, or not able to access a guidance counselor at school.”
The DROP program allows state employees to begin accumulating monthly Florida Retirement System benefits in a trust fund while continuing to work, but only for up to five years depending on how long the employee has worked with the state. When an employee reaches the retirement point, they can have the benefits paid out in a lump sum, rolled over into another qualified plan or a combination of both.
The legislation filed by Torres and Harris would remove the forced end date for teachers, school nurses, administrators and bus drivers when they reach the end of the DROP plan.
Torres, an Orlando Democrat, said those employees who want to work for the schools or come back after retirement should be able to do so without compromising their benefits.
“The DROP program provides options for all Florida State Retirement System employees to supplement their financial retirement benefits and plan for their final retirement employment date and these school employee personnel who are currently excluded should be able to access the same benefits as all other FRS employees,” Torres said.
3 comments
Christine Clark
March 11, 2023 at 7:58 am
I am a retired teacher in Brevard county. I recently taught for a teacher in medical leave. I completed all the duties of a full time teacher. I had to wait until 20 working days to be paid my salary as a teacher. I did not get access to the grading program ir the google classroom which made it very difficult to do my job and serve my students best! This is ridiculous and degrading as a trained and experienced teacher! They wNt retired teachers but do not give us the ability and resources to complete our job. Also not getting paid what we should be paid offers no incentives to help out!
Sandra
March 11, 2023 at 12:01 pm
The DROP program is already too generous when compared to benefits offered in other industries.
Dan Ryan
March 12, 2023 at 12:17 pm
States need to be careful that they don’t trip over IRS rules when tinkering with pension plans and DROPs. Eliminating the “hard stop” date for participating in a DROP may be a problem
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