1. (a) A person who has retired under Government Code, §824.202(a) without reduction for retirement at an early age and who is hired as and performs the duties of a principal or assistant principal as certified by the employer in accordance with Government Code, §824.602(a)(6) will be considered eligible for employment after retirement under the exception described in this section. Employment by a third party entity is considered employment by a Texas public educational institution unless the retiree does not perform duties or provide services on behalf of or for the benefit of the institution or the retiree was first employed by the third party entity before May 24, 2003.
2. (b) A retiree must elect in writing on a form prescribed by TRS to take advantage of the exception described by this section no later than the end of the first month of employment under this section or 30 days after the date of employment, whichever is later.
3. (c) If the form is not received and the retiree continues to work on a full time basis for more than six months the annuity payments will be suspended each month work is performed until the election form is received by TRS.
4. (d) In the event the retiree elects to use the principal or assistant principal exception and has not been reported in that manner, the reporting entity must notify TRS in writing by amending the previous TRS 118, Employment of Retired Member(s), report(s).
5. (e) For the principal or assistant principal exception, the 12 month separation period required by Government Code, §824.602 may be any 12 consecutive months following the month of retirement so long as the retiree is not employed in any position or capacity by a public educational institution during any part of each of the 12 months. Employment by a third party entity as described in subsection (a) of this section is considered employment by a public educational institution covered by TRS for purposes of this subsection.
6. (f) Work under the exception described in this section and work under the exception for substitute service described in §31.13 of this chapter (relating to Substitute Service) may be combined in the same school year without loss of annuity provided the requirements for work under this section are met.

Source Note:The provisions of this §31.17 adopted to be effective March 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 2109; amended to be effective October 30, 2003, 28 TexReg 9288; amended to be effective March 8, 2007, 32 TexReg 1089.