The Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System (LSERS) was created on July 31, 1946 and became fully operational as of July 1, 1947, as established by Louisiana Revised Statute 11:1001.
LSERS membership1 is comprised of non-instructional personnel of the Louisiana public school system. This includes school bus operators, janitors, custodians, maintenance employees, school bus aides, monitors, and attendants; and other regular school employees who actually work on school buses helping with the transportation of school children. Employees must also work more than 20 hours per week to be a member of this system.
LSERS is one of 4 state government retirement systems and is administered by a professional staff of state employees. LSERS’ operations are financed through member and employer contributions and investment earnings on the contributions. Retirement disbursements are made with those funds and the interest generated on those funds.
LSERS is the third largest state retirement system in Louisiana and is placed, organizationally within state government, under the Department of the Treasury. It is governed by a 12-member Board of Trustees made up of 6 elected representatives (4 active employees by district and 2 retirees) and 6 appointed (ex-officio) members.
Many of LSERS members belong to the Louisiana School Bus Operators Association (LSBOA), a statewide professional association that is an effective forum where current issues are defined and means of resolution are effectively sought. Each of the parishes also has independent bus operators’ associations that work actively in defining and resolving local issues.
1Information on membership, along with assets, liabilities, and funding requirements for LSERS, is provided in the Actuarial Valuation and Auditors’ reports located on the Annual Reports page.