**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, DC 20554**

In the Matter of )

)

Request for Review of the )

Decision of the )

Universal Service Administrator by )

)

Columbus Unified School District 493 ) File No. SLD-325089

Lawrence, 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: February 10, 2003 Released: February 11, 2003**

By the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition
Bureau:

1.  This Order dismisses the Request for Review filed by Columbus
    Unified School District 493 (Columbus Unified), Lawrence,
    Kansas.[^1] Columbus Unified seeks review of a decision issued by
    the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service
    Administrative Company (Administrator) on May 21, 2002.[^2] The
    Commission received Columbus Unified's Request for Review on
    December 2, 2002.[^3]

2.  For requests seeking review of decisions issued on or after August
    13, 2001 under section 54.720(b) of the Commission's rules, any such
    appeal must be filed with the Commission or SLD within 60 days of
    the issuance of the decision that the party seeks to have
    reviewed.[^4] Documents are considered to be filed with the
    Commission only upon receipt.[^5] Because the instant Request for
    Review was not filed within the requisite 60-day period, it will be
    dismissed without further consideration.

3.  To the extent that Columbus Unified is requesting that we waive the
    60-day deadline established in section 54.720(b) of the
    Commission\'s rules for its underlying appeal of SLD\'s denial, we
    deny that request as well.[^6] The Commission may waive any
    provision of its rules, but a request for waiver must be supported
    by a showing of good cause.[^7] Columbus Unified has not shown good
    cause for the untimely filing of its appeal with SLD. Columbus
    Unified states that when the Funding Commitment Decision Letter was
    issued, it only reviewed the letter to ensure that all the funding
    requests were funded and did not realize that a reduction had taken
    place.[^8]

4.  We conclude that Columbus Unified has not demonstrated a sufficient
    basis for waiving the Commission's rules. Waiver 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.[^9] The particular facts of this case
    do not rise to the level of special circumstances required for a
    deviation from the general rule. In light of the thousands of
    applications that SLD reviews and processes each year, it is
    administratively necessary to place on the applicant the burden of
    adhering strictly to its filing deadlines.[^10] As we have
    consistently held in the past, it is the applicant who has
    responsibility ultimately for the timely submission of its
    appeals.[^11] Therefore, we conclude that Columbus Unified has
    failed to demonstrate special circumstances upon which its request
    can be granted.

5.  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 Requests for
    Review filed on December 2, 2002, by Columbus Unified School
    District 493, Lawrence, Kansas, as well as the request to waive the
    deadline for filing its appeal with SLD are DENIED.

    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

    Mark G. Seifert

Deputy Chief, Telecommunications Access Policy Division

Wireline Competition Bureau

[^1]: Electronic mail from Aaron Butell, Columbus Unified School
    District 493, to Federal Communications Commission, filed December
    2, 2002 (Request for Review).

[^2]: *See* Request for Review; Letter from the School and Libraries
    Division, Universal Service Administrative Company, to Aaron Butell,
    Columbus Unified School District 493, dated May 21, 2002 (Funding
    Commitment Decision Letter). 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* Request for Review.

[^4]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.720(b). *See Implementation of Interim Filing
    Procedures for Filings of Requests for Review, Federal-State Joint
    Board on Universal Service*, CC Docket No. 96-45, Order, 17 Rcd 339
    (2001), as corrected by *Implementation of Interim Filing Procedures
    for Filings of Requests for Review, Federal-State Joint Board on
    Universal Service*, CC Docket No. 96-45, Errata (Com. Car. Bur. rel.
    Dec. 28, 2001 and Jan. 4, 2002); SLD web site, What's New (January
    20, 2002),
    \<<http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/012002.asp#extend3ed>\>.

[^5]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.7.

[^6]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 54.720(b).

[^7]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.3.

[^8]: Request for Review at 1.

[^9]: *Northeast Cellular Telephone Co. v. FCC*, 897 F.2d 1164, 1166
    (D.C. Cir. 1990).

[^10]: *See* *Request for Review by Anderson School Staatsburg,
    Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board
    of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.*,
    File No. SLD-133664, CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, 15 FCC
    Rcd 25610 (Com. Car. Bur. rel. Nov. 24, 2000), para. 8 ("In light of
    the thousands of applications that SLD reviews and processes each
    funding year, it is administratively necessary to place on the
    applicant the responsibility of understanding all relevant program
    rules and procedures.").

[^11]: *See FCC Overrules Caldwell Televisions Associates, Ltd.*, Public
    Notice, 58 RR 2d 1706, 1707 (1985).