(a) All school facilities purchased or newly constructed pursuant to this chapter for use, in whole or in part, by pupils who are individuals with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, shall be designed and located on the schoolsite so as to maximize interaction between those individuals with exceptional needs and other pupils as appropriate to the needs of both.

(b) School district governing boards and county offices of education shall ensure that school facilities for pupils who are individuals with exceptional needs are integrated with other school facilities in applying for the purchase or new construction of school facilities pursuant to this chapter.

(c) The State Allocation Board, after consultation with the State Department of Education and representatives from county offices of education, special education services regions, and school districts, shall develop and adopt any regulations necessary to implement this section.

(d) Notwithstanding any other law, the requirement set forth in subdivision (a) may be waived, by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, only upon compliance with the following procedure:

(1) The applicant school district or county superintendent of schools shall file a written request for waiver that documents the reasons for its inability to comply with the requirement.

(2) The State Department of Education shall verify the reasons set forth pursuant to paragraph (1), including the documentation submitted, which verification shall be completed no later than 30 days after the filing of the request for waiver with the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

(3) The Advisory Commission on Special Education, as established under Section 33590, at its first scheduled meeting following the verification conducted pursuant to paragraph (2), shall review the request for waiver, accompanying documentation, and the verification findings of the State Department of Education. No later than 15 days following the date of that meeting, the commission shall submit its written comments and recommendations regarding the request for waiver to the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

(4) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall review the comments and recommendations submitted by the Advisory Commission on Special Education prior to approving or rejecting the request for waiver.

(5) Any request for waiver, submitted in accordance with this section, that is not rejected within 60 days of its receipt by the State Department of Education, shall be deemed approved.

(e) This section does not apply to any application for project funding under this chapter that meets one of the following conditions:

(1) The application was submitted to the board prior to January 1, 1987, and all of the facilities under the project for use, in whole or in part, by pupils who are individuals with exceptional needs are located on a schoolsite on which facilities for use by other pupils are also located.

(2) The application is for any other project, for which, prior to January 1, 1987, the board approved the drawing of final plans and the preparation of final specifications.

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