In a subsequent judgment, the Supreme Court held that the U-Rating determination was not arbitrary and capricious and, thus, it was properly reaffirmed in the determination dated March 20, 2003. The petitioner appeals from that judgment, and we reverse.
It is a “fundamental administrative law principle that an agency’s rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to statutory authority are binding upon it as well as the individuals affected by the rule or regulation” (Matter of Lehman v Board of Educ. of City School Dist. of City of N.Y., 82 AD2d 832, 834 [1981]; see also Matter of Syquia v Board of Educ. of Harpursville Cent. School Dist., 80 NY2d at 535-536). An adverse agency determination must be reversed when the relevant agency does not comply with either a mandatory provision, or one that was “intended to be strictly enforced” (id. at 536).
Here, several procedural errors were made in the petitioner’s rating and rating appeals process. For example, the petitioner was not provided with the complete set of documents on which the U-Rating determination was based within three weeks of her challenge to the U-Rating determination, as mandated by the appeals process regulations promulgated pursuant to the Board of Education Bylaw § 5.3.4A. In fact, the hearing, which took place more than two years after the petitioner initiated the appeal process, as a consequence of waivers by the petitioner, was additionally delayed until the petitioner was provided with the documentation. Thus, the initial determination was rendered “in violation of lawful procedure” (Matter of Pell v Board of Educ. of Union Free School Dist. No. 1 of Towns of Scarsdale & Mamaroneck, Westchester County, 34 NY2d 222, 231 [1974]; see also CPLR 7803 [3]), as was so much of the determination dated March 20, 2003, as, in effect, reaffirmed the U-Rating determination (see Matter of Bonilla v Board of Educ.
