No apportionment shall be made for new construction 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 average daily attendance of the estimated average daily attendance in excess of that computed in accordance with Sections 16047, 16052, 16053, 16054, and 16055.

As used in Sections 16047, 16052, 16053, 16054, and 16055, “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 16053, 16054, and 16055, “attendance center” means a school maintained or to be maintained at a given location within a district. The State Department of Education shall approve or disapprove the allocation by an applicant district of units of estimated average daily attendance among the attendance centers of the district.

To the building area permitted to an applicant school district by Sections 16047, 16052, 16053, 16054, and 16055, there may be added any additional building area that may be required to provide adequate facilities for exceptional children pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 16190) of this chapter.

No estimate of average daily attendance made by an applicant for the purpose of justifying an apportionment shall be made for a longer time than the third fiscal year beyond the fiscal year in which an application is made, except that an estimate for the purpose of justifying an apportionment for a grade level maintained by a unified district, under an application filed prior to September 15, 1961, or by a high school district composed of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, 9 to 12, inclusive, or 7 to 10, inclusive, or of justifying an apportionment for a unified district for a junior high school or high school project under an application made on or after the effective date shall not be made for a longer time than the fourth fiscal year beyond the fiscal year in which the application is made. 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 § 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 which maintains one or more junior high schools shall not be considered in determining or estimating the average daily attendance of the elementary district, unless the elementary district is maintaining and has continuously maintained grades 7 and 8 since a date prior to January 1, 1959, or unless the electorate of the district, during the year 1974, has authorized the return of the seventh and eighth grade pupils from the high school district and the maintaining of grades 7 and 8 in the elementary district. When pupils attending grades 7 and 8 are so considered in determining or estimating the average daily attendance of the elementary district in making apportionment to the elementary district, these pupils shall not be considered in determining or estimating average daily attendance of the high school district in making an apportionment to the high school district for junior high school purposes.

The board shall develop statewide or areawide averages of pupil occupancy for family dwellings of various sizes and for mobilehomes of various sizes for use by applicant school districts in estimating the average daily attendance of family dwellings and mobilehome parks under construction or newly constructed and never occupied in the district.

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