**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, DC 20554**

In the Matter of )

)

Request for Review of the )

Decision of the )

Universal Service Administrator by )

)

Atchison Public Schools ) File No. SLD-262801

Atchison, Kansas )

)

Federal-State Joint Board on ) CC Docket No. 96-45

Universal Service )

)

Changes to the Board of Directors of the ) CC Docket No. 97-21

National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. )

**order**

**Adopted: July 9, 2002 Released: July 10, 2002**

By the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition
Bureau:

1.  Before the Telecommunications Access Policy Division is a Request
    for Review filed by Atchison Public Schools (Atchison), Atchison,
    Kansas.[^1] Atchison seeks review of a decision issued by the
    Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service
    Administrative Company (Administrator).[^2] In its decision, SLD
    rejected Atchison's Funding Year 2001 application for failure to
    satisfy minimum processing standards because Atchison used the
    Funding Year 2000 form instead of the Funding Year 2001 form.[^3] In
    its Request for Review, Atchison asserts that relief should be
    granted because the error was unintentional, the amounts requested
    were the same that Atchison requested in the previous year, and the
    Funding Year 2000 and Funding Year 2001 forms are very similar in
    appearance.[^4]

2.  It is well established that applicants are responsible for ensuring
    that their applications are made on the correct forms.[^5] Atchison
    also argues that it will lose services if it is unable to obtain
    funding.[^6] Construing this argument as a waiver request, we find
    that it does not provide a basis for a waiver. Although the
    Commission may waive any provision of its rules, a showing of good
    cause must support a waiver request.[^7] A waiver from the
    Commission is appropriate if special circumstances warrant a
    deviation from the general rule, and such deviation would better
    serve the public interest than strict adherence to the general
    rule.[^8] As we have held in the past, the assertion that denial of
    the applications may have a detrimental impact on schools and
    libraries does not create the special circumstances or particular
    facts that warrant a waiver of the Commission\'s rules.[^9] We
    therefore deny the Request for Review and affirm SLD for
    substantially the reasons stated in the Administrator's Decision on
    Appeal.

3.  ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to authority delegated under
    sections 0.91, 0.291, 1.3, and 54.722(a) of the Commission's rules,
    47 C.F.R. §§ 0.91, 0.291, 1.3, and 54.722(a), that the Request for
    Review filed by Atchison Public Schools, Atchison, Kansas, on July
    23, 2001 IS DENIED.

    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

    Mark G. Seifert

    Deputy Chief, Telecommunications Access Policy Division

    Wireline Competition Bureau

[^1]: Letter from Dr. Corbin Witt, Atchison Public Schools, to Federal
    Communications Commission, filed July 23, 2001 (Request for Review).

[^2]: *See* Request for Review. Section 54.719(c) of the Commission's
    rules provides that any person aggrieved by an action taken by a
    division of the Administrator may seek review from the Commission.
    47 C.F.R. § 54.719(c).

[^3]: *See* Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal
    Service Administrative Company, to Joy Kromer, Atchison Public
    Schools, dated July 13, 2001 (Administrator's Decision on Appeal).
    In prior years, this funding period was referred to as Funding Year
    4. Funding periods are now described by the year in which the
    funding period starts. Thus, the funding period which begins on July
    1, 2001 and ends on June 30, 2002, previously known as Funding Year
    4, is now called Funding Year 2001. The funding period which begins
    on July 1, 2000 and ends on June 30, 2001, is now called Funding
    Year 2000.

[^4]: Request for Review.

[^5]: *See Request for Review by Southern Adirondack Library System,
    Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board
    of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.*,
    File No. SLD-267054, CC Dockets No. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, DA
    02-745, para. 10 (Com. Car. Bur. rel. April 4, 2002).

[^6]: Request for Review at 1.

[^7]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.3; *see also WAIT Radio v. FCC*, 418 F.2d 1153, 1158
    (D.C. Cir. 1969), *cert. denied*, 409 U.S. 1027 (1972) (*WAIT
    Radio*).

[^8]: *Northeast Cellular Telephone Co. v. FCC*, 897 F.2d 1164, 1166
    (D.C. Cir. 1990) (*Northeast Cellular*); *see also* *WAIT Radio*,
    897 F.2d at 1159 (stating that the Commission may take into account
    considerations of hardship, equity, or more effective implementation
    of overall policy on an individual basis).

[^9]: *See* *Request for Review by Northern Waters Library Service,
    Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board
    of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.*,
    File No. SLD-183124, CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, DA
    02-227 (Com. Car. Bur. rel. Jan. 30, 2002) (denying a request for
    waiver of the Commission's rules based on the assertion that denial
    would cause the applicant hardship); *Request for Review by
    Lansingburgh Central School District, Federal-State Joint Board on
    Universal Service, Changes to the Board of Directors of the National
    Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.*, File No. SLD-109845, CC Docket
    Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, 15 FCC Rcd 6999 (Com. Car. Bur. 1999)
    ("To simply advert...to its limited resources and the needs of its
    students, does not distinguish its situation from other applications
    the SLD must process each funding year in accordance with its filing
    deadlines.").