BUFFALO, NY — The saga of the Buffalo school nurses contract is not over yet.
After losing the contract over a late-submitted bid, Kaleida vice president Michael Hughes said the health care provider would exercise an option in the bidding process and appeal the decision by the Buffalo Board of Education.
“There’s an official appeal and we are pursuing that as well as looking at legal options, said Hughes in an afternoon news conference.
Kaleida has supplied nurses for the city school district for over a decade. But it was ultimately disqualified from the bidding process on a new contract when it submitted its bid 16 minutes late.
District rules require a hard copy of bids to be turned in, in-person.
Kaleida points out bidding rules require late bids to be returned un-sealed to the bidder. But reportedly at least one Buffalo school board member was citing specific from the Kaleida bid, suggesting it was reviewed.
Hughes says right now, Kaleida is working to place the 76 nurses who were assigned to the city schools. There are more than enough nurse openings, Hughes says right now placement is a matter of sorting through seniority issues with its unionized nurses.