(a) Mandatory membership.--Membership in the system shall be mandatory as of the effective date of employment for all school employees except the following:

(1) Any officer or employee of the Department of Education, State-owned educational institutions, community colleges, area vocational-technical schools, technical institutes, or The Pennsylvania State University and who is a member of the State Employees' Retirement System or a member of another retirement program approved by the employer.

(2) Any school employee who is not a member of the system and who is employed on a per diem or hourly basis for less than 80 full-day sessions or 500 hours in any fiscal year or annuitant who returns to school service under the provisions of section 8346(b) (relating to termination of annuities).

(3) Any officer or employee of a governmental entity who subsequent to December 22, 1965 and prior to July 1, 1975 administers, supervises, or teaches classes financed wholly or in part by the Federal Government so long as he continues in such service.

(4) Any part-time school employee who has an individual retirement account pursuant to the Federal act of September 2, 1974 (Public Law 93-406, 88 Stat. 829), known as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

(b) Prohibited membership.--The school employees categorized in subsection (a)(1) and (2) shall not have the right to elect membership in the system and shall not be eligible to participate in the plan.

(c) Optional membership.--The school employees categorized in subsection (a)(3) and, if otherwise eligible, subsection (a)(4) shall have the right to elect membership in the system. Once such election is exercised, membership shall commence from the original date of eligibility and shall continue until the termination of such service.

(d) Mandatory participation in the plan.--A school employee who is a mandatory member of either Class T-G or Class T-H shall also be a mandatory participant in the plan as of the effective date of membership in the system.

(July 9, 1976, P.L.965, No.189, eff. imd.; Aug. 5, 1991, P.L.183, No.23, eff. imd.; Nov. 23, 2010, P.L.1269, No.120, eff. imd.; June 12, 2017, P.L.11, No.5, eff. imd.)

Special Provisions in Appendix. See section 4(4) of Act 96 of 1975 in the appendix to this title for the effective date of provisions relating to membership of part-time employees.

References in Text. Section 27 of Act 16 of 2019 provided that a reference in statute or regulation to "area vocational-technical school" shall be deemed a reference to "area career and technical school," and a reference in statute or regulation to "vocational curriculums" shall be deemed a reference to "career and technical curriculums."

Cross References. Section 8301 is referred to in section 8304 of this title; section 5303.2 of Title 71 (State Government).