Federal Communications Commission DA 99-2587
Before the
Federal Communications Commission 
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
) 
Request for Review )
Of the Decision of ) 
The Universal Service Administrator by )
)
Arvin Union School District ) File No. 31393 
Arvin, California )
) 
Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service ) CC Docket No. 96-45
)
Changes to the Board of Directors ) CC Docket No. 97-21 
Of the National Exchange Carrier ) 
Association, Inc. )
ORDER 
Adopted: November 19,1999 Released: November 19,1999
By the Common Carrier Bureau:
1. The Common Carrier Bureau has under consideration an appeal by Arvin Union 
School District (Arvin Union), filed on August 23,1999, seeking review of a decision issued by 
the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company 
(USAC or Administrator). Arvin Union seeks review of SLD's denial of its application for 
funding under the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism. 1 For the reasons 
set forth below, we deny Arvin Union's appeal.
2. Under the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism, eligible 
schools, libraries, and consortia that include eligible schools and libraries, may apply for 
discounts for eligible telecommunications services. Internet access, and internal connections.
3. By letter dated February 9, 1999, SLD denied a portion of Arvin Union's funding 
requests. Arvin Union contends that, by letter dated March 26, 1999, Serban Sound and 
Communications (Serban), Arvin Union's vendor, appealed SLD's Funding Commitment Letter 
(FCL). It further contends that, after several phone calls to SLD to determine the status of the 
appeal, it was informed that vendors are unable to submit appeals on behalf of school districts. 
According to Arvin Union, it learned of this subsequent to "the 30-day window we knew we 
were working under." Moreover, Arvin Union states that it did not receive an Administrator's
1 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).
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Federal Communications Commission DA 99-2587
Decision on Appeal. Therefore, Arvin Union requests that the Commission consider its late-filed 
appeal.
4. A review of the file in this case indicates that the FCL appeal was not received by 
the Administrator until September 24,1999. We conclude that Arvin Union's arguments are 
moot given that the appeal letter from Serban, whether or not valid as having been filed by a 
vendor, was late-filed in the first instance. Commission rules require that appeals of the FCL be 
received by SLD no later than 30 days after the date the letter is issued.2 Because Serban's letter 
is dated more than 30 days after the issuance of the FCL, it was necessarily late-filed, no matter 
what date it may have been received by the Administrator. Consequently, any subsequent action 
or inaction by either the applicant or the Administrator has no bearing on the fact that Arvin 
Union failed to comply with the Commission's rules governing the filing of appeals.
5. 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 appeal filed by Arvin Union School District, Arvin California, on August 23, 
1999, IS DENIED.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Yog R. Varma
Deputy Chief, Common Carrier Bureau
2 See 47 C.F.R. § 54.720(b).
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