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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  1725 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  DC  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of  ) 
 ) 
 Request  for  Review  of  the  ) 
 Decision  of  the  ) 
 Universal  Service  Administrator  by  ) 
 ) 
 Administrator's  Referral  of  Saint  Jo  Independent  ) 
 School  District  Request  for  Waiver  to  Federal  ) 
 Communications  Commission  for  Potential  ) 
 Waiver  and  Remand  of  Appeal  ) 
 ) 
 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  20,  2001  Released:  July  23,  2001 
 By  the  Accounting  Policy  Division,  Common  Carrier  Bureau: 
 1.  On  November  22,  1999,  Saint  Jo  Independent  School  District  (Saint  Jo)  filed  its 
 Schools  and  Libraries  Universal  Service  Program  Services  Orders  and  Certification  Form  470 
 (FCC  Form  470).  The  Schools  and  Libraries  Division  of  the  Universal  Service  Administrative 
 Company  (SLD  or  USAC)  posted  Saint  Jo's  FCC  Form  470  to  its  web  site  on  December  28, 
 1999.  Because  SLD  failed  to  timely  post  Saint  Jo's  FCC  Form  470,  Saint  Jo  was  unable  to 
 comply  with  the  competitive  bidding  rules  set  for  in  47  C.  F.  R.  §  54.504(  b)(  4).  Subsequently, 
 SLD  denied  Saint  Jo's  FCC  Form  471  application  on  October  13,  2000  as  a  violation  of  the 
 competitive  bidding  rules.  1 


 2.  On  April  25,  2001,  USAC  filed  a  letter  with  the  Commission  relating  the  above  facts 
 and  urging  the  Commission  to  grant  Saint  Jo's  waiver  request  consistent  with  the  Commission's 
 decision  in  Runnemede  Public  Schools.  2  Because  the  delay  in  posting  Saint  Jo's  FCC  Form  470 
 was  solely  attributable  to  USAC,  we  believe  that  a  waiver  of  the  Commission's  competitive 


 1  See  Letter  from  the  Schools  and  Libraries  Division,  Universal  Service  Administrative  Co.,  to  Phillip  Hall,  Saint  Jo 
 Independent  School  District,  dated  October  13,  2000. 
 2  See  In  the  Matter  of  Request  for  Waiver  by  Runnemede  Public  Schools,  Runnemede,  New  Jersey,  released 
 December  21,  1999. 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  1725 
 2 
 bidding  requirement  is  warranted  in  this  case.  Therefore,  we  remand  Saint  Jo’s  application  to 
 SLD  for  reprocessing  and  the  issuance  of  an  appropriate  Funding  Commitment  Letter. 


 3.  ACCORDINGLY,  IT  IS  ORDERED,  pursuant  to  authority  delegated  under  sections 
 0.91,  0.291,  and  54.722(  a)  of  the  Commission's  rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §§  0.91.  0.  291,  and  54.722(  a), 
 that  the  Request  for  Review  filed  by  Saint  Jo  Independent  School  District,  Saint  Jo,  Texas  IS 
 GRANTED  to  the  extent  provided  herein  and  that  Saint  Jo  Independent  School  District’s 
 application  IS  REMANDED  to  SLD  for  further  consideration  in  light  of  this  decision. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 


 Mark  G.  Seifert 
 Deputy  Chief,  Accounting  Policy  Division 
 Common  Carrier  Bureau 
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