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School employees

If you are a school employee (see “Am I a school employee?” below) who works a school year, there are differences in how your service credit/retirement credit is calculated.

Under certain circumstances, a member who is a school employee may receive educational service credit for the calendar month(s) the employing institution is not normally in session (generally June, July, and August).

If you are planning to retire based upon 30 years of creditable service/retirement credit, it is important that you understand how this affects you.

If you plan to terminate employment and retire during the fall or spring term, you will not receive creditable service/retirement credit for the summer months associated with that term, and you may not have the 30 years of creditable service you need to retire.

Creditable service for school employees and academic employees is determined in six month segments.

If you work all portions of th​​​e school year …

If you work in a qualifying position during all portions of a school year that fall between July 1 and December 31 (fall term), you will receive six months of creditable service.

If you work in a qualifying position during all portions​ of a school year that fall between January 1 and June 30 (spring term), you will receive six months of creditable service.

For PERS purposes, you are considered to have worked all portions of a school year as long as you work at least 50 hours in each month of a school year when school is in session and do not have a leave without pay of 11 or more business days in a calendar month.

For example, if you begin service at the start of the school year in September and work through the end of the fall term in December, you will receive creditable service for six months, including the months of July and August (when school is not in session). If you work all of the spring term, you will receive creditable for six months, including the month of June (when/if school is not in session).

If you work less …

If you fail to work the major fraction of all the calendar months that school is in session during the fall or spring term, you will not receive six months of creditable service for that term and will only receive creditable service for the calendar months that you actually work the major fraction of the month.

If you leave employment …

If you terminate employment or go on leave without pay for 11 or more business days during a month that occurs during the term, you are not providing service for all portions of the term. You will not receive creditable service for the “summer months” associated with the term.

For example, if you begin service at the start of the school year in September, but terminate employment on November 30, and consequently do not work during the month of December when school is in session, then you may not receive creditable service for July and August. You may only receive creditable service for September, October, and November. If you were counting July and August as part of your 30 years, you would be two months short.

Summer months

How PERS determines if you receive creditable service for the summer months:

  • If you are employed as a school employee from September 15 through December 16, PERS will presume you worked the entire fall term and you will receive creditable service for July and August (you must retire January 1st or later of the following year to receive service credit for July and August).
  • If you are employed as a school employee from January 7 through May 26, PERS will presume you worked the entire spring term and you will receive creditable service for June (you must retire July 1 or later to receive service credit for June).
  • If you work all portions of the fall or spring term but the start and end dates of the terms do not satisfy the PERS presumed dates, your employer can certify the actual dates of your school year and you may receive creditable service for the appropriate summer months.
  • If you do not work all portions of a term, you will receive creditable service only for months in which you actually worked the major fraction of the month.
Waiting time

If you are a Tier One​/Tier Two member and served your waiting time as a school or academic employee, you may have to purchase your waiting time to be eligible for creditable service for the summer months for that school year.

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You are a school employee if you are:

  • Employed by a common school district, a union high school district, an education service district, or a charter school.
  • An employee of the State Board of Higher Education engaged in teaching or other school activity at an institution of higher education.
  • An employee of the Department of Human Services, the Oregon Youth Authority, the Department of Corrections or the State Board of Education who is enga​ged in teaching or other school activity at an institution supervised by the authority, board or department.
    OR​
  • An employee of a community college district who is engaged in teaching or other school activity.
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If you were a public school teacher in another state, you may be eligible to purchase up to four years of retirement credit for that service if you are a Tier One or Tier Two member.

You are not required to purchase this retirement credit.

If you are interested in learning more, go to our Purchases webpage, or fill out the Certification of Out-of-State Teaching Service form and read the FAQ Answers to Your Questions about Purchasing Retirement Credit for Out-of-State School Service Prior to PERS Employment.

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