Still stung by a barely-missed deadline, Kaleida Health, the largest health care provider in Western New York, is suing Buffalo Public Schools over the district's nursing contract.

In January, bids for all potential nurse providers had an 11 a.m. submission time. Kaleida stated it entered its electronic bid at 10:57 a.m., but the hard copy didn't make it in until about 20 minutes later. It wasn't until the end of April, more than four months later, that the district informed Kaleida its bid had been rejected.

This lawsuit alleges that the district broke its own rules. District guidelines say late bids will be returned, unopened. The suit states that not only was Kaleida's bid never returned; it was opened and reviewed. 

Kaleida called the district's decision "arbitrary and capricious," but the district says it was just following the rules. A State Supreme Court appearance is scheduled for October 24. 

In response to a request for comment, Kaleida said it oould not comment due to the pending legal case. 

The school district said it is "confident in its decision, based on the law and consistent and clear district policy."

Kaleida nurses were in Buffalo city schools for 13 years. The switchover to another provider affected 77 nurses.