A request seeking permission to delay filing an appeal with the Commissioner of Education must be timely filed

A request seeking permission to delay filing an appeal with the Commissioner of Education must be timely filed
M.H. v Santiago Taveras, Interim-Acting Deputy Chancellor for Teaching and Learning of the New York City Department of Education, Decisions of the Commissioner of Education, Decision No. 16,097

M.H., a tenured New York City teacher, appealed the denial of her objections to unsatisfactory performance ratings by the Interim-Acting Deputy Chancellor to the Commissioner of Education.

Rejecting M.H.’s appeal as untimely notwithstanding the representation that the delay in filing the appeal was due to personal illness, the Commissioner explained:

1. An appeal to the Commissioner must be commenced within 30 days from the making of the decision or the performance of the act complained of unless any delay is excused by the Commissioner for good cause shown and to be timely, a request to have the delay excused must be commenced within 30 days of receiving the administrative determination.

2. When the record does not indicate when petitioner actually received the determination, the date of receipt is calculated by affording the usual five days for mailing, excluding Sundays and holidays.

3. Neither illness nor ignorance of the appeal process is a valid excuse for the late commencement of an appeal.

The decision is posted on the Internet at: http://www.counsel.nysed.gov/Decisions/volume50/d16097.htm