(1) Whenever any law of this state provides a limitation upon the amount of money that a school district can expend upon any public work or construction project without letting such public work or construction project to contract under competitive bidding procedures, a school district shall not circumvent such provision by dividing a public work or construction project or quantum of work to be performed thereunder which by its nature or character is integral to such public work or construction project, or serves to accomplish one of the basic purposes or functions thereof, into several contracts, separate work orders, or by any similar device.
(2) This section shall apply not only where the public work or construction project is divided into several projects which are constructed at approximately the same period of time but also where the public work or construction project is divided into several projects which are constructed in different time periods or over an extended period of time.