8. a. The number of unhoused students shall be calculated as the number of FTE students who are projected to be enrolled in preschool for children with disabilities, preschool, kindergarten, grades 1 through 12, and special education services pupil educational programs provided in a district within five years, which are in excess of the functional capacity of the district’s current school facilities or the functional capacity of the school facilities which will be available within five years other than the school facilities for which the preliminary eligible costs are determined, based upon the district’s long-range facilities plan. The determination of unhoused capacity shall separately consider projected enrollments and functional capacities at the early childhood and elementary (preschool through grade 5), middle (grades 6 through 8), and high school (grades 9 through 12) levels. For the purpose of calculating the district’s unhoused students, special education services students shall be considered part of the grade level to which the students’ chronological age corresponds. In the event that the commissioner approves a school facilities project which involves the construction of a new school facility to replace an existing school facility, which shall accommodate both the unhoused students and the students in the existing school facility, the calculation of the number of unhoused students shall include the number of students currently attending the existing facility which is to be replaced.

b. Approved area for unhoused students (AU) shall be determined according to the following formula:

AU = (UEC x SEC) + (UE x SE) + (UM x SM) + (UH x SH) where

UEC, UE, UM, UH are the numbers of unhoused students in the early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school enrollment categories, respectively; and

SEC, SE, SM, SH are the area allowances per FTE student in preschool and kindergarten, grades 1 through 5, grades 6 through 8, and grades 9 through 12, respectively. Area allowances shall be determined based on the grade level of a student regardless of the grade configurations used in the school buildings of the district.

The minimum area allowance per FTE student shall be as follows:

Preschool through grade 5 125 sq. ft.

Grades 6 through 8 134 sq. ft.

Grades 9 through 12 151 sq. ft.

The commissioner, in consultation with the State Treasurer and the Commissioner of Community Affairs, shall adopt regulations that establish a process for the consideration of special circumstances, in addition to those provided in section 5 of P.L.2010, c.72 (C. 18A:7G-5), in which the area allowances per FTE student established pursuant to this subsection may be adjusted. Any decision made by the commissioner pursuant to those regulations shall be made in consultation with the State Treasurer and the Commissioner of Community Affairs.

L.2000, c.72, s.8; amended 2017, c.131, s.18.