(a) The Legislature hereby declares that it is in the interest of the state and the people thereof for the state to reconstruct, remodel, or replace existing school buildings that are educationally inadequate or that do not meet present-day structural safety requirements, and to acquire new schoolsites and buildings for the purpose of making them available to local school districts for the pupils of the public school system, that system being a matter of general concern inasmuch as the education of the children of the state is an obligation and function of the state.

(b) In order to expedite the elimination of the use of nonconforming school buildings that are used or designed to be used for instructional purposes or intended to be entered by pupils, the State Allocation Board may establish criteria that considers special circumstances under which funds may be allocated for the reconstruction of nonconforming buildings. The funds allocated in accordance with this section shall not exceed 75 percent of the cost of facility replacement.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that all construction projects be designed and constructed to maximize the use of educational technology, as set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 17002.

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