Bill > S1385

This bill allows school nurses who are members of a teacher's, municipal, city of Boston, or state retirement system to receive "creditable service," which is essentially credit towards their retirement for prior work experience in the nursing field. To qualify, these school nurses must be employed in a school approved by the department of education and must make a payment into their retirement system's annuity savings fund. This payment is calculated as 10 percent of their regular annual compensation when they joined the retirement system for each year of nursing work experience they wish to count, plus "buy back interest," which is an additional cost to account for the time the money wasn't in the system. Importantly, this credit is only granted after the nurse has completed at least ten years of membership service in the retirement system, and the maximum creditable service allowed for nursing experience is three years. Eligible nurses must apply for this creditable service within ninety days of being notified by their retirement board of their eligibility after becoming "vested" (meaning they have met the minimum service requirements to receive retirement benefits) or, for those already eligible, within ninety days of this bill becoming law.