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                           Before the
               Federal Communications Commission
                     Washington, DC  20554

In the Matter of                   )
                                   )
Request for Review of the          )
Decision of the                    )
Universal Service Administrator by )
                                   )
Catoosa Public Schools             )    File No. SLD- 152652
Catoosa, Oklahoma                  )
                                   )
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:  August 23, 2000               Released: August 24, 2000

By the Accounting Policy Division, Common Carrier Bureau:

1.     The Accounting Policy Division has under consideration a Letter of Appeal filed by
Catoosa Public Schools (Catoosa), Catoosa, Oklahoma, on April 12, 2000.  In the Letter of
Appeal, Catoosa 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 October 26, 1999.  Because Catoosa failed to appeal SLD's funding decision
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 Catoosa's appeal and its request for
waiver of the 30-day time limit for filing appeals.  
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 as to which review is sought.  Documents are considered
to be filed with the Commission or the SLD only upon receipt.  As noted, the Funding
Commitment Decision Letter was issued on October 26, 1999.  Catoosa filed appeals of the
funding decision with SLD on January 13, 2000 and February 2, 2000.  SLD dismissed the
appeals as untimely.  Upon review of the record, we find that, because Catoosa failed to appeal
the Funding Commitment Decision Letter within the requisite 30-day appeal period, Catoosa's
appeals to SLD were correctly denied as untimely.
3.     To the extent that Catoosa is requesting that we waive the 30-day deadline established
in section 54.720(b) of the Commission's rules, we deny that request.  The Commission may
waive any provision of its rules, but a request for waiver must be supported by a showing of
good cause.  Catoosa has not shown cause for the untimely filing of its initial appeals beyond
the fact that the contact person specified on the FCC Form 471 did not timely forward the
Funding Commitment Decision Letter to the school district.  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 Catoosa'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 Letter of Appeal filed on April 12, 2000, by Catoosa Public Schools, Catoosa,
Oklahoma, and the request to waive the 30-day time limit in which to file appeals ARE
DENIED.
                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


                              Sharon L. Webber
                              Deputy Chief, Accounting Policy Division
                              Common Carrier Bureau