Trouble interpreting this wording
<blockquote>
  <p>Expired temporary certificates. A three-year nonrenewable temporary certificate may be issued to an applicant who held a temporary certificate but did not hold a temporary certificate for the school year immediately preceding the school fiscal year for which the certificate is requested [...].</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Note that school years run from August to July.</p>

<p>So suppose I held a certificate from September 2016 for the school year 2016-17, to when it expired at September 2019. Then...</p>

<p>Can I request and be issued a certificate for the school year 2020-2021, because I did not have a certificate for 2019-2020, or any part of? After all, my certificate expired on the school year 2018-2019.</p>

<p>Yes, assuming that you also "meets all requirements specified in paragraph (1)(a)". As you describe it, you did not hold a certificate (temporary or otherwise) for 2019-2020, which is the school year preceding 2020-2021.</p>

interpretation