(a) The board by the adoption of rules shall provide for the manner of determining the area of adequate school construction existing in an applicant school district at the time of application. The rules shall define and provide for the method of determining building areas that are to be included in whole or in part, or to be excluded from the area of existing adequate school construction.

The board may make exceptions to this section or to the rules adopted pursuant to this section when it determines that the exceptions will be for the benefit of children affected.

For the purposes of this section, “service area” may be defined as any of the following:

(b) (1) Buildings which when constructed were intended to be used for a purpose to which the provisions of Sections 17280 to 17313, inclusive, would not apply, whether or not those sections were in effect at the time when the building was constructed.

(2) Buildings which when constructed were intended to be used for a purpose to which Sections 17280 to 17313, inclusive, would apply, whether or not those sections were in effect when the building was constructed, but which building has been converted or is intended to be converted, as shown by the application, to use for purposes to which the sections would not apply. Service area may include, but is not limited to, construction used as bus garages, maintenance shops, centrally located district storage and warehouses, custodial houses, utility shelters, administration offices, transformer vaults, and service yards.

(c) In the event that a school district has expended funds for the purpose of constructing buildings used for housing certificated employees of the district and their families, the area of the buildings and the funds expended therefor shall be accounted for in the following manner:

(1) The area of the buildings constructed or acquired with the proceeds of a tax levied under Sections 14200 to 14240, 42200 to 42247, and 45020, inclusive, shall be excluded from the building area of the district.

(2) The area of the buildings constructed or acquired with the proceeds from the sale of school district bonds prior to July 1, 1961, shall be excluded from the building area of the district, however, the bond funds shall not be considered as “eligible bonded debt service” as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 16070 and Section 16084.

(d) The board shall exclude from the building area of a district:

(1) The area of any building which is or will be used exclusively for a parent cooperative nursery education facility, and for no other purpose, and which building at the time of acquisition thereof by the district was incidental to the purchase of a schoolsite and unsuitable for classroom purposes or which was acquired by the district without expenditure of school district funds.

(2) The area of any building which is or will be used exclusively for a preschool educational program facility pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 54400) of Part 29, or Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 16150) of Part 4 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or any combination thereof; provided, that the building was constructed, leased, or purchased with local general funds, or federal or state funds allocated specifically for a preschool educational program.

(e) The area of adequate school construction existing in a district at the time of application shall be initially computed as all of the construction area of a district except all of the following:

(1) The areas as may be eligible for replacement under standards established by the board.

(2) The areas in an existing structurally inadequate building for which an application has been filed for structural rehabilitation or in a building previously structurally rehabilitated under either Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 15700) or Sections 16000 to 16207, inclusive, that exceeds the maximum building area allowed by Section 16044 for a number of pupils, equivalent to those that could be housed in the building after rehabilitation.

The board shall prescribe by rule the method of computing the number of pupils which could be so housed for the purposes of this subdivision.

(f) If the area of adequate school construction, when added to the minimum facilities needed by the district, results in a total construction area in excess of the amount prescribed in Section 16044, then the board may make the following adjustments to the initial computation or the revisions thereof as the board, in its discretion, deems desirable:

(1) Service areas constructed prior to July 19, 1947, shall be excluded, except as provided in paragraph (3).

(2) Service areas constructed subsequent to July 19, 1947, shall be recomputed by multiplying the total number of square feet of said service area by the percentage determined from dividing the actual construction cost per square foot as determined by the Director of General Services by the estimated average cost per square foot of the new school facilities for which the district has made application.

(3) If any inadequate nonservice area constructed prior to July 19, 1947, is, or will be, converted to a service area, the area shall be recomputed by multiplying said area by the percentage determined by dividing the depreciated value of said area by the replacement cost as the value and cost are determined by the Director of General Services.

(4) If, after the revised computation of service areas is made as prescribed under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), the existing and requested building area of the district is in excess of the schedule set forth in Section 16044, the existing building area of nonservice facilities may be determined on the basis of the number of pupils housed by the facilities at an allowance per pupil which is not more than 25 percent in excess of the amount per pupil prescribed in Section 16044.

The board shall prescribe by rule the method for computing the number of adequately housed pupils for purposes of this subdivision.

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