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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  03-  36 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  DC  20554 
 In  the  Matter  of  )  ) 
 Requests  for  Review  and  Waiver  of  the  )  Decisions  of  the  ) 
 Universal  Service  Administrator  by  )  ) 
 St.  Patrick  School  )  File  No.  SLD-  313964  Jersey  City,  New  Jersey  ) 
 )  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:  January  8,  2003  Released:  January  9,  2003 
 By  the  Telecommunications  Access  Policy  Division,  Wireline  Competition  Bureau: 
 1.  The  Telecommunications  Access  Policy  Division  has  under  consideration  a  Request  for  Review  filed  by  St.  Patrick  School,  Jersey  City,  New  Jersey.  1  St.  Patrick  School  seeks 
 review  of  a  decision  issued  by  the  Schools  and  Libraries  Division  (SLD)  of  the  Universal  Service  Administrative  Company  (Administrator),  rejecting  St.  Patrick  Schools  appeal  on  the  grounds 
 that  it  was  untimely  filed.  2  For  the  reasons  set  forth  below,  we  affirm  SLDs  rejection  and  deny  St.  Patrick  School's  Request  for  Review. 

 2.  SLD  issued  a  Funding  Commitment  Decision  Letter  on  May  7,  2002,  denying  St.  Patrick  Schools  request  for  discounted  services  under  the  schools  and  libraries  universal  service 
 support  mechanism.  3  Specifically,  SLD  denied  St.  Patrick  Schools  request  for  discounts  for  internal  connections,  Funding  Request  Number  (FRN)  822199.  4  On  August  26,  2002,  St.  Patrick 
 School  filed  an  appeal  of  SLDs  decision.  5  On  August  27,  2002,  SLD  issued  an  Administrator's 
 1  Letter  from  Scott  DeCarolis,  St.  Patrick  School,  to  Federal  Communications  Commission,  filed  September  26, 
 2002  (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  Letter  from  Schools  and  Libraries  Division,  Universal  Service  Administrative  Company,  to  Maeve  McDermott,  St. 
 Patrick  School,  dated  May  7,  2002  (Funding  Commitment  Decision  Letter). 
 4  Id. 

 5  Letter  from  Howard  Gerber,  St.  Patrick  School,  to  Schools  and  Libraries  Division,  Universal  Service 
 Administrative  Company,  filed  August  26,  2002  (Request  for  Administrator  Review). 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  03-  36 
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 Decision  on  Appeal  indicating  that  it  would  not  consider  St.  Patrick  Schools  appeal  because  it  was  received  more  than  60  days  after  the  May  7,  2002  Funding  Commitment  Decision  Letter 
 was  issued.  6  St.  Patrick  School  subsequently  filed  the  instant  Request  for  Review  with  the  Commission. 

 3.  For  requests  seeking  review  of  decisions  issued  on  or  after  August  13,  2001  under  section  54.720(  b)  of  the  Commissions  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.  7  Documents  are  considered  to  be  filed  with  the  Commission  or  SLD  only  upon  receipt.  8  Because 
 the  St.  Patrick  Schools  Request  for  Administrator  Review  was  not  filed  within  the  requisite  60-  day  period,  we  affirm  the  Administrators  Decision  on  Appeal  and  deny  the  instant  Request  for 
 Review. 
 4.  To  the  extent  that  St.  Patrick  School  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  of  its  funding  request,  we  deny  that  request  as  well.  9  The  Commission  may  waive  any  provision  of  its  rules,  but  a  request  for  waiver  must  be  supported  by  a  showing  of  good  cause.  10 
 St.  Patrick  School  has  not  shown  good  cause  for  the  untimely  filing  of  its  appeal  with  SLD.  St.  Patrick  School  states  that  the  technology  coordinator  at  St.  Patrick  School  was  forced  to  take  an 
 emergency  medical  leave  of  absence  and  as  a  result,  St.  Patrick  School  was  prevented  from  filing  the  appeal  in  a  timely  fashion.  11 

 5.  We  conclude  that  St.  Patrick  School  has  not  demonstrated  a  sufficient  basis  for  waiving  the  Commissions  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.  12  In  requesting  funds  from  the  schools  and  libraries  universal 
 service  support  mechanism,  the  applicant  has  certain  responsibilities.  The  applicant  bears  the  burden  of  submitting  its  appeal  to  SLD  within  the  established  deadline  if  the  applicant  wishes  its 
 appeal  to  be  considered  on  the  merits. 
 6.  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 
 6  Letter  from  Schools  and  Libraries  Division,  Universal  Service  Administrative  Company,  to  Howard  Gerber,  St. 
 Patrick  School,  dated  August  27,  2002  (Administrator's  Decision  on  Appeal). 
 7  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  FCC  Rcd  339  (Com.  Car.  Bur.  rel.  December  26,  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.  December  28,  2001  and  January  4,  2002). 

 8  47  C.  F.  R.    1.7. 
 9  See  47  C.  F.  R.    54.  720(  b). 
 10  See  47  C.  F.  R.    1.3. 
 11  Request  for  Waiver  at  1. 
 12  Northeast  Cellular  Telephone  Co.  v.  FCC,  897  F.  2d  1164,  1166  (D.  C.  Cir.  1990). 
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 burden  of  adhering  strictly  to  its  filing  deadlines.  In  order  for  the  program  to  work  efficiently,  the  applicant  must  assume  responsibility  for  timely  submission  of  its  appeal  to  SLD  if  it  wishes 
 its  appeal  to  be  considered  on  the  merits.  An  applicant  must  take  responsibility  for  the  action  or  inaction  of  those  employees,  consultants  and  other  representatives  to  whom  it  gives 
 responsibility  for  submitting  timely  appeals  of  SLD  funding  decisions  on  its  behalf,  even  when  such  persons  are  away  from  the  office  on  medical  leave  or  otherwise  incapacitated.  13  Here,  St. 
 Patrick  School  fails  to  present  good  cause  as  to  why  it  could  not  timely  file  its  appeal  to  SLD.  We  therefore  find  no  basis  for  waiving  the  appeal  filing  deadline. 

 7.  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  September  26,  2002,  by  St.  Patrick  School,  Jersey  City,  New  Jersey,  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 

 13  See,  e.  g.,  Request  for  Review  by  New  Orleans  Public  Schools,  New  Orleans,  Louisiana,  Federal-  State  Joint  Board 
 on  Universal  Service,  Changes  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  National  Exchange  Carrier  Association,  Inc.,  File  Nos.  SLD-  201456,  201463,  201409,  201449,  and  201493,  CC  Docket  Nos.  96-  45  and  97-  21,  Order,  16  FCC  Rcd 

 16653  (Com.  Car.  Bur.  rel.  September  18,  2001),  para.  17  (unavailability  of  responsible  staff  person  due  to  sick  leave  is  not  a  basis  for  granting  an  appeal). 
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