Title 16, Title 16: Education

§ 1944. Vermont Teachers’ Retirement Fund (a) Pension Fund. All of the assets of the System shall be credited to the Vermont Teachers’ Retirement Fund. (b) Member contributions. (1) Contributions deducted from the compensation of members shall be accumulated in the Pension Fund a…

§ 1944a. Periodic actuarial reports The Board shall cause to be made an actuarial reevaluation of the rate of member contributions deducted from earnable compensation pursuant to subdivision 1944(b)(2) of this title, on a periodic basis at least every three years, to determine wh…

§ 1944b. Retired Teachers’ Health and Medical Benefits Fund (a) There is established the Retired Teachers’ Health and Medical Benefits Fund (Benefits Fund) to pay retiree postemployment benefits when due in accordance with the terms established by the Board of Trustees of the Sta…

§ 1944c. Employer charges for federal grants or reimbursements (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, effective on July 1, 2015, the employer retirement costs and administrative operating expenses related to the retirement plans applicable to those teachers who…

§ 1944d. Employer annual charge for teacher health care (a) Beginning on July 1, 2018, the employer of teachers who become members of the State Teachers’ Retirement System of Vermont on or after July 1, 2015 shall pay an annual assessment of $1,275.00 for each such teacher to the…

§ 1944e. Retired teachers health and medical benefits (a) Payment of a portion of the cost of health and medical benefits provided by subsection 1942(p) of this title for retired members and their dependents shall be made from the Benefits Fund. The Board shall determine the tota…

§ 1945. Application of other laws No other provision of law in any other statute that provides wholly or partly at the expense of the State of Vermont for pensions or retirement benefits for teachers of the State, their widows, or other dependents, shall apply to members or benef…

§ 1946. Exemption of member’s interest; assignment That portion of the compensation of a member deducted or to be deducted under this chapter, the rights of a member or beneficiary to an annuity, pension, or retirement allowance hereunder, and all a member’s rights in the assets …

§ 1946a. Tax exemption for member of retirement system of another state or political subdivision thereof Payments received by a member of a retirement system of another state or political subdivision thereof, whether called a pension, an annuity, a retirement allowance, or any ot…

§ 1946b. Alternate payee; domestic relations orders (a) As used in this section: (1) “Alternate payee” means any individual who is recognized by a domestic relations order as having a right to receive all, or a portion of, another individual’s payment rights in the System. (2) “D…

§ 1947. Penalty Whoever with intent to deceive shall make any statements or reports required under this chapter that are untrue, or shall falsify or permit to be falsified any record or records of the System, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punishable therefor under…

§ 1948. Errors Should any mistake be made, or should any change or error in the records result in any member or beneficiary receiving from the System more or less than he or she would have been entitled to receive had the records been correct, the Board shall have the power, in i…

§ 1949. Postretirement adjustments to retirement allowances (a) Postretirement adjustments to retirement allowance. On January 1 of each year, the retirement allowance of each beneficiary of the System who is in receipt of a retirement allowance for at least a one-year period as …

§ 1949a. Postretirement adjustment allowance account (a) Intent. It is the intent of the General Assembly to recognize members who are in active service on or before June 30, 2022 and made contributions for the duration of fiscal year 2023 and members who are in active service on…

§ 1949b. Postretirement adjustment to retirement allowance; formula; evaluation (a) On or before September 1, 2027 and every three years thereafter, or at the request of the Board in conjunction with any proposed changes to the amortization schedule, the Board shall consider the …

§ 1951. Group A members; limit on contributions Contributions in the form of a deduction from compensation under section 1944 of this title shall cease for any Group A member who attains 25 years of creditable service and the member shall continue to accrue creditable service, wi…

§ 1953. Prior service credit A teacher who has ceased being a member upon reemployment is entitled to prior service credit upon depositing in the Pension Fund the contributions that would have been deducted from the teacher’s compensation had he or she remained a member with inte…

§ 1981. Definitions As used in this chapter unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Administrator” means any person so licensed by the Vermont Standards Board for professional educators, the majority of whose employed time in a school or a school district is devoted to servin…

§ 1982. Rights (a) Teachers shall have the right to or not to join, assist, or participate in any teachers’ organization of their choosing. However, teachers who choose not to join the teachers’ organization, recognized as the exclusive representative pursuant to section 1992 of …

§ 1983. Right to be heard Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit any individual or organization representative, subject to reasonable rules of procedure that may be adopted by the school board, from appearing before the school board to be heard, but not to negotiate, on any matte…

§ 1984. Access to new teachers or administrators in bargaining unit (a) A school board shall provide a teachers’ or administrators’ organization that is the exclusive representative of the teachers or administrators in a bargaining unit with an opportunity to meet with each newly…

§ 1985. Annual list of teachers or administrators in bargaining unit (a) Annually, or on a more frequent basis if mutually agreed to by the school board and the teachers’ or administrators’ organization, the school board shall provide the teachers’ or administrators’ organization…

§ 1986. Noninterference with right to testify (a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, no teacher, administrator, or other employee of a school district or supervisory union shall be subject to discipline by the school district or supervisory union for testifying before the…

§ 1991. Selection of representation (a) Teachers and administrators may select organizations to represent them on their negotiations council in collective negotiations with the school board negotiations council. The school board shall recognize an organization as the exclusive re…

§ 1992. Referendum procedure for representation (a)(1) An organization purporting to represent a majority of all of the teachers or administrators employed by the school board may be recognized by the school board without the necessity of a referendum upon the submission of a pet…

§ 2001. Good faith The negotiations councils of the school board and of the recognized teachers’ or administrators’ organization shall meet together at reasonable times, upon request of either party, and shall negotiate in good faith on all matters properly before them under the …

§ 2002. Access to materials and facilities The school board shall permit teachers, administrators, and their respective organizations access at reasonable times to areas in which teachers and administrators work, and to use institutional bulletin boards, mail boxes, or other comm…

§ 2003. Time to begin The teacher or administrator organizations holding exclusive negotiating rights shall make a request for commencement of negotiations either to their school board or to the school board negotiations council no later than 120 days prior to the earliest school…

§ 2004. Agenda (a) The school board, through its negotiations council, shall, upon request, negotiate with representatives of the teachers’ or administrators’ organization negotiations council on matters of salary, related economic conditions of employment, the manner in which it…

§ 2005. Written agreement The negotiations councils for the school board and the teachers’ or administrators’ organization shall enter into a written agreement or agreements incorporating matters agreed to in negotiation. The written agreement shall incorporate by reference the t…

§ 2006. Mediator If, after negotiation has taken place on all matters properly before them, the negotiations councils for the school board and teachers’ or administrators’ organization are unable to reach agreement on specific negotiable items, they may jointly agree upon the ser…

§ 2007. Fact-finding committee (a) If mediation fails to resolve outstanding differences or is not requested and a continuing disagreement persists, either party may, after negotiation on all matters properly before them, request that any or all unresolved issues be submitted to …

§ 2008. Finality of decisions All decisions of the school board regarding matters in dispute in negotiations shall, after full compliance with this chapter, be final. (Added 1969, No. 127, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1969.)

§ 2009. Delegation of authority The negotiations councils for school boards and for teachers’ and administrators’ organizations are empowered to delegate in whole or in part the responsibility for negotiation of the collective agreement to any persons they may choose. However, fi…

§ 2010. Injunctions No restraining order or temporary or permanent injunction shall be granted in any case brought with respect to any action taken by a representative organization or an official thereof or by a school board or representative thereof in connection with or relatin…

§ 2021. Negotiated binding interest arbitration (a) Arbitration shall only occur if the recognized organization and one or more of the school boards agree in writing to submit to binding arbitration for one or more issues remaining in dispute. An agreement to accept binding inter…

§ 2022. Selection and decision of arbitrator (a) When arbitration has been invoked in accordance with this subchapter, the parties shall within five days mutually select a single arbitrator and each party shall state its final offer on all disputed issues. If the parties fail to …

§ 2023. Jurisdiction of arbitrator (a) The parties may reach partial agreement on some issues or accept a fact-finder’s recommendations on some issues. The arbitrator shall have the power to determine all issues remaining in dispute involving wages, hours, and conditions of emplo…

§ 2024. Judicial appeal Upon application of a party, a Superior Court shall vacate an award on the same grounds as set forth in 21 V.S.A. § 1733(d) and according to the same procedures as set forth in 21 V.S.A. § 1733(e). (Added 1991, No. 196 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

§ 2025. Factors to be considered by arbitrator (a) At the hearing, each party shall have full opportunity to submit all relevant evidence, to introduce relevant documents and written material, and to argue on behalf of its positions. At the hearing, both parties may present evide…

§ 2026. Notice of award The arbitrator shall file one copy of the decision with each city or town clerk in the school district involved, the school board, and the recognized organization. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding upon the parties to the dispute. (…

§ 2027. Fees and expenses The parties shall share equally the fee of the arbitrator and all other mutually incurred costs incidental to the arbitration. (Added 1991, No. 196 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

§ 2028. Contract ratification annual vote Annually, the employees of the bargaining unit shall meet and discuss whether employees who have chosen not to join the employee organization shall be allowed to vote on the ratification of any collective bargaining agreement entered into…

§ 2041. Purpose, findings, and policy—Article I 1. To improve their respective school systems by utilizing the teacher or other professional educational person wherever educated, declare that it is the policy of each of them, on the basis of cooperation with one another, to take …

§ 2042. Definitions—Article II As used in this Agreement and contracts made pursuant to it, unless the context clearly requires otherwise: 1. “Educational personnel” means persons who must meet requirements pursuant to State law as a condition of employment in educational program…

§ 2043. Interstate educational personnel contracts—Article III 1. The designated State official of a party State may make one or more contracts on behalf of his or her State with one or more other party States providing for the acceptance of educational personnel. Any such contra…