Except as provided in Section 17041, no project shall be approved, the building area of which, when added to the area of adequate school construction existing in the applicant school district at the time of application, will provide a total area of school building construction per unit of estimated average daily attendance in excess of that computed in accordance with Sections 17043, 17044, 17045, and 17046.

As used in Sections 17041.5, 17043, 17044, 17045, and 17046, “maximum area” means maximum area of school building construction and “attendance unit” means unit of estimated average daily attendance.

As used in this section and Sections 17045 and 17046, “attendance center” means a school maintained or to be maintained at a given location within a district. Enrollment projections shall be made for the third fiscal year beyond the fiscal year in which the application is made for a project for kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and for the fourth fiscal year beyond the fiscal year in which the application is made for a junior high school or high school project. Except as otherwise provided by the board, the estimates of average daily attendance shall be based upon the number of family dwellings and mobilehome parks, as defined in Section 18214 of the Health and Safety Code, under construction or newly constructed and never occupied in the district and the number of children residing in the district. In no case shall an estimate be given effect unless approved by the board.

For the purposes of this chapter, pupils attending grades 7 and 8 in an elementary district, but residing in a high school district that maintains one or more junior high schools, shall not be considered in determining or estimating the average daily attendance of the elementary district, unless one of the following conditions is met:

(a) The elementary district is maintaining and has continuously maintained grades 7 and 8 since a date prior to January 1, 1975.

(b) The elementary district, by a vote of the electorate at an election held on June 2, 1981, withdrew its 7th and 8th grade pupils from the high school district.

(c) The elementary district, by a vote of the electorate at an election held on November 4, 1980, withdrew its 7th and 8th grade pupils from the high school district and the high school district continues to qualify for a project, other than a project pursuant to Section 17041, on the basis of the remaining 7th and 8th grade pupils. In no event shall a facility be constructed for the withdrawn 7th and 8th grade pupils at a distance less than one and one-half miles from the nearest proposed or existing junior high facility.

When these pupils are so considered in determining or estimating the average daily attendance of the elementary district, they shall not be considered in determining or estimating average daily attendance of the high school district for junior high school purposes.

(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 277, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1997. Operative January 1, 1998.)