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Missouri鈥檚 school districts are struggling not just with a teacher shortage but a scarcity of bus drivers, custodians and other essential personnel.

In the 2022-2023 school year, teachers with inadequate teaching certification taught over 8% of Missouri public school classes, .

The crisis has led larger school districts to consider adopting four-day school weeks to address teacher retention and recruitment problems.

Sen. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, has been working on one way to address the problem for four years. And last week, the governor signed a bill into law, set to take effect Aug. 28, that will allow retired public-school staff to work full-time for a district for up to four years without losing retirement benefits.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not like on Aug. 29 everything鈥檚 gonna be fine鈥� but it is going to have an impact to help schools continue to get along somehow until there鈥檚 a better solution or they can find people to come back to schools and work again,鈥� Black told The Independent.

Prior to Black鈥檚 legislation, teachers and non-certificated staff could work full-time for only two years post-retirement without losing benefits.

The bill includes a provision to help prevent too many staff  from taking early retirement, limiting school districts to 30 retired teachers working full time.

Black said the four-year timeframe seemed like the best fit because it allows a student to attend college and earn a teaching credential in that time. Some school districts sponsor college tuition for some students in a 鈥済row your own teacher鈥� program, where students commit to teaching in the district post-graduation.

Black鈥檚 legislation also addresses non-certificated positions, like bus drivers and janitors. Retired school employees can work in positions that don鈥檛 require a teaching certificate for more hours. Previously, they were capped at earning 60% of the minimum teacher鈥檚 salary, which would amount to $15,000 for those without a master鈥檚 degree.

They will now be allowed to earn 133% of the Social Security earning鈥檚 limit for those not at full retirement age, or about $28,250, until June 30 of 2028. On that date, the limit will decrease to 100% of the earning鈥檚 exemption, which is currently $21,240.

Black figured it would be easier for districts to call retired teachers 鈥� who are not intimidated by the school environment 鈥� back into the classroom part-time than find an entirely new workforce.

鈥淪chools that are having a heck of a time finding somebody to come in and fill some hard-to-fill jobs, it鈥檚 a little bit easier to get (retired educators) to come in the door and be successful because they鈥檝e already lived it,鈥� he said.

Springfield Public Schools, Missouri鈥檚 largest school district, met with Black early in the legislative session, the district鈥檚 legislative consultant Jason Zamkus said at the latest board meeting.

Zamkus said Black鈥檚 original bill 鈥� which capped earnings at $21,240, rather than the $28,250 that lawmakers landed on 鈥� wouldn鈥檛 have given enough of a boost for retired teachers鈥� earning potential.

鈥淚 set a meeting with Sen. Black and worked with (the Public School Retirement System) to try to up that in a way that was both fiscally responsible so that it wouldn鈥檛 upset the balance of the retirement system statewide but it would also have the desired result of actually drawing people back into the work of public education,鈥� Zamkus told Springfield鈥檚 school board.

Black said the five-year sunset should give actuaries with the Public School Retirement System time to calculate the best number.

Black said retired educators who served in roles such as bus drivers introduced him to this issue when he was a representative. They told him they would lose their retirement benefits if they drove for the entire school year.

鈥淲ith the old system, they could drive the school bus up until sometime in April and then they had to quit driving,鈥� Black said.鈥滻f they didn鈥檛, they would end up losing their retirement; they would get penalized.鈥�

Black is a retired agriculture educator and often took on non-certificated roles, like driving the bus or coaching football.

He has filed this legislation repeatedly during his time serving in the Missouri House, even striking deals in 2021 and 2022 that didn鈥檛 pan out.

Zamkus said this legislative session was 鈥減robably one of the best legislative sessions for public education,鈥� largely because of the number of bills he deemed harmful that didn鈥檛 pass.

with a myriad of bills that were combined in committee. GOP infighting in the Senate took floor time from his legislation, killing it as the session ended.

Lewis supports Black鈥檚 legislation but foresees more work addressing the teacher shortage.

鈥淭eacher recruitment and retention is still one of the biggest areas that we need to work on,鈥� he told The Independent.

Black said he doesn鈥檛 think his legislation will 鈥渇ix all the problems鈥� but he hopes it makes a difference.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: [email protected]. Follow Missouri Independent on and .

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