Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §15603, sub-§8, ¶B, as amended by PL 1997, c. 787, §6, is further amended to read:

B. Lease costs for school buildings when the leases, including leases under which the school administrative unit may apply the lease payments to the purchase of portable, temporary classroom space beginning January 1, 1988, have been approved by the commissioner for the year prior to the year of allocation. Beginning July 1, 1998 lease cost includes:

(1) Administrative space. A school administrative unit may lease administrative space with state support until July 1, 2003. A school administrative unit engaged in a lease-purchase agreement for administrative space is eligible for state support until July 1, 2008;

(2) Temporary interim nonadministrative space.

(a) A school administrative unit with state- approved need for nonadministrative space may lease temporary interim space, with state support, for a maximum of 5 years. A school administrative unit may appeal to the board if this division presents an undue burden. The board's decision is final.

(b) A school administrative unit engaged in a lease-purchase agreement for temporary interim nonadministrative space is eligible for state support for a maximum of 10 years, except that if the school administrative unit has a major capital improvement application on file with the Department of Education and is not rated high enough by the department using the department's rating scale compared to other school administrative units to obtain funding to correct problems with its facilities, the school administrative unit is eligible for state support until it obtains funding to correct problems with its facilities; and

(3) Permanent small nonadministrative space that replaces or is converted from existing approved leased portable space. The existing leased portable space will be eligible for state support until July 1, 2003. Once an existing leased portable space has been