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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  2694 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  DC  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of  ) 
 ) 
 Request  for  Review  of  the  ) 
 Decision  of  the  ) 
 Universal  Service  Administrator  by  ) 
 ) 
 Request  for  Waiver  by  ) 
 ) 
 Lincoln  Elementary  School  District  No.  27  )  File  No.  SLD-  234195 
 Lincoln,  Illinois  ) 
 ) 
 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:  November  19,  2001  Released:  November  20,  2001 
 By  the  Accounting  Policy  Division,  Common  Carrier  Bureau: 
 1.  The  Accounting  Policy  Division  has  under  consideration  a  Request  for  Review  and 
 Waiver  filed  by  Lincoln  Elementary  School  District  No.  27  (Lincoln),  Lincoln,  Illinois,  on 
 September  20,  2001.  1  In  its  Request  for  Review  and  Waiver,  Lincoln  seeks  review  of  a  funding 
 commitment  decision  issued  by  the  Schools  and  Libraries  Division  (SLD)  of  the  Universal 
 Service  Administrative  Company  (USAC  or  Administrator)  on  July  23,  2001.  2  Because 
 Lincoln's  appeal  to  SLD  regarding  the  funding  decision  was  not  filed  within  30  days  of  the 
 Funding  Commitment  Decision  Letter,  it  also  requests  a  waiver  of  the  30-  day  appeal  period.  For 
 the  reasons  set  forth  below,  we  deny  Lincoln’s  Request  for  Review  and  its  Request  for  Waiver. 


 2.  Under  section  54.720(  b)  of  the  Commission’s  rules,  any  appeal  must  be  filed  within 
 30  days  of  the  issuance  of  the  decision  that  the  party  seeks  to  have  reviewed.  3  Documents  are 


 1  Letter  from  Carol  Ann  Gleason  and  Dr.  Robert  E.  Kidd,  Lincoln  Elementary  School  District  No.  27,  to  Federal 
 Communications  Commission,  filed  September  20,  2001  (Request  for  Review  and  Waiver). 
 2  Letter  from  Schools  and  Libraries  Division,  Universal  Service  Administrative  Company,  to  Dr.  Robert  E.  Kidd, 
 Lincoln  Elementary  School  District  No.  27,  dated  July  23,  2001  (Funding  Commitment  Decision  Letter). 
 3  47  C.  F.  R.  §  54.  720(  b). 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  01-  2694 
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 considered  to  be  filed  with  the  Commission  or  the  SLD  only  upon  receipt.  4  As  noted  above, 
 SLD  issued  the  Funding  Commitment  Decision  Letter  on  July  23,  2001.  Lincoln  filed  an  appeal 
 of  the  funding  decision  with  SLD  on  August  23,  2001.  5  SLD  dismissed  that  appeal  as  untimely.  6 
 Upon  review  of  the  record,  we  find  that,  because  Lincoln  failed  to  appeal  the  Funding 
 Commitment  Decision  Letter  within  the  requisite  30-  day  appeal  period,  Lincoln’s  appeal  to  SLD 
 was  correctly  denied  as  untimely. 


 3.  Lincoln  requests  that  we  waive  the  30-  day  deadline  established  in  section  54.720(  b) 
 of  the  Commission's  rules.  7  The  Commission  may  waive  any  provision  of  its  rules,  but  a  request 
 for  waiver  must  be  supported  by  a  showing  of  good  cause.  8  Lincoln  has  not  shown  cause  for  the 
 untimely  filing  of  its  initial  appeal  beyond  the  statement  that  the  Technology  Coordinator  was  on 
 vacation.  In  light  of  the  thousands  of  applications  that  the  SLD  must  review  and  process  each 
 funding  year,  we  believe  it  administratively  appropriate  for  the  SLD  to  require  applicants  to 
 adhere  strictly  to  its  filing  deadlines.  Accordingly,  we  believe  that  waivers  of  these  deadlines 
 should  not  be  routinely  granted.  For  these  reasons,  we  find  that  the  circumstances  here  do  not 
 warrant  relief  and,  therefore,  we  deny  Lincoln’s  request  to  waive  section  54.720(  b). 


 4.  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  and  Request  for  Waiver  filed  on  September  20,  2001,  by  Lincoln 
 Elementary  School  District  No.  27,  Lincoln,  Illinois  ARE  DENIED. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 


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


 4  47  C.  F.  R.§  1.  7. 
 5  Letter  from  Carol  Gleason,  Lincoln  Elementary  School  District  No.  27,  to  Schools  and  Libraries  Division, 
 Universal  Service  Administrative  Company,  filed  August  23,  2001. 
 6  Letter  from  Schools  and  Libraries  Division,  Universal  Service  Administrative  Company,  to  Dr.  Robert  E.  Kidd, 
 Lincoln  Elementary  School  District  No.  27,  dated  August  27,  2001  (Administrator’s  Decision  on  Appeal). 
 7  See  47  C.  F.  R.  §  54.  720(  b). 


 8  See  47  C.  F.  R.  §  1.3. 
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