(a) For purposes of Section 42282, a “necessary small school” is an elementary school with an average daily attendance of less than 97 pupils, excluding pupils attending the 7th and 8th grades of a junior high school, maintained by a school district to which any of the following conditions apply:

(1) If as many as five pupils residing in a school district with fewer than 2,501 units of second principal apportionment average daily attendance and attending kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, excluding pupils attending the 7th and 8th grades of a junior high school, in the elementary school with an average daily attendance of less than 97 pupils would be required to travel more than 10 miles one way from a point on a well-traveled road nearest their home to the nearest other public elementary school.

(2) If as many as 15 pupils residing in a school district with fewer than 2,501 units of second principal apportionment average daily attendance and attending kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, excluding pupils attending the 7th and 8th grades of a junior high school, in the elementary school with an average daily attendance of less than 97 pupils would be required to travel more than five miles one way from a point on a well-traveled road nearest their home to the nearest other public elementary school.

(3) If as many as 15 pupils residing in a school district with more than 2,500 and fewer than 5,001 units of second principal apportionment average daily attendance and attending kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, excluding pupils attending the 7th and 8th grades of a junior high school, in the elementary school with an average daily attendance of less than 97 pupils would be required to travel more than 30 miles one way from a point on a well-traveled road nearest their home to the nearest other public elementary school.

(b) If topographical or other conditions exist in a school district that would impose unusual hardships if the number of miles specified in paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) were required to be traveled, or if during the fiscal year the roads that would be traveled have been impassable for more than an average of two weeks per year for the preceding five years, the governing board of the school district may, on or before April 1, request the Superintendent, in writing, for an exemption from these requirements or for a reduction in the miles required. The request shall be accompanied by a statement of the conditions upon which the request is based, giving the information in a form required by the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall cause an investigation to be made, and shall either grant the request to the extent he or she deems necessary, or deny the request.

(c) For purposes of this section, “other public elementary school” is a public school, including a charter school, that serves kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 8, inclusive, excluding grades 7 and 8 of a junior high school.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 664, Sec. 2. (SB 1321) Effective January 1, 2019.)