Eligibility
Employees and dependents must meet the following criteria to be eligible to participate in the GISD Benefit Plans:
Employees
Employees are eligible if they are active contributing members of the Teacher Retirement System, or will be within 90 days of employment. Any employee of Garland ISD shall be considered eligible to be an active contributing member of TRS if employment is for more than 20 hours or more for each week and for four and one-half months or more in one school year. All employees of Garland ISD must participate in TRS unless an exception to TRS membership applies. The exceptions to TRS membership include, but are not limited to:
- An employee who is working less than half time.
- A TRS retiree who returns to work in a TRS-covered position.
- Persons serving on a daily, on-call basis as a substitute.
Retiree-Rehire Employees
Retiree-rehire employees are eligible to participate in the GISD State Comparable Health Plan, Dental, Vision, Supplemental Cancer and Intensive Care Plan, and the Flexible Spending Accounts if they are working 20 or more hours per week.
Dependents
The employee must be covered to enroll dependents. In general, dependents may be any of the following:
- Your lawful spouse
- Your unmarried children under age 19 including natural-born children; legally adopted children; permanent foster children; step-children living in your home and chiefly dependent on you for support; grandchildren you claim as dependents for federal income tax purposes.
(You must complete a "Responsibility for Dependent Child” form if your dependent is a foster child, stepchild or grandchild not already covered under the Plan. You may obtain this form from the GISD Benefits Department.) - Your unmarried children age 19 through age 24 who are full-time students at a high school or an accredited college or vocational school. College students must carry a minimum of 12 hours to be considered full-time.
(You must complete a Student Dependent Form that can be found on the GISD intranet.) - Your unmarried children who are named in a Qualified Medical Child Support Order that fully complies with federal and state law.
(You must provide the GISD Benefits Department with a copy of the order.) - Your unmarried children over age 19 who are primarily dependent on you for support and are not capable of self-sustaining employment due to a physical or mental handicap which began prior to reaching age 19 and while they were insured under the GISD Health Plan.
(If you have a dependent child that falls in this category please contact the GISD Benefits Department for documentation requirements.)