Taylor Bus Service, Inc. v. San Diego Board of Education

Plaintiffs Taylor Bus Service, Inc., and Josephina Haime (Taylor) appeal the denial of their petition for a writ of mandamus. The action arises from a dispute between the San Diego Unified School District (District) and Taylor concerning the award of a contract for school bus transportation services for the 1986-1987 school year. Specifically, the dispute involves whether Taylor’s offer of self-insurance was responsive to a bid requirement that liability insurance be secured by the party awarded the contract. Taylor contends in rejecting its low bid as nonresponsive, the District failed to exercise its discretion to determine whether Taylor’s bid substantially complied with bid specifications. Taylor alternatively argues if the District exercised its discretion and determined the offer of self-insurance not in substantial compliance, it did so without requisite due process. Taylor further argues the District’s conditional award of the contract to it could not be rescinded. Finally, Taylor argues if the contract award could be rescinded, it was improper for the District to award the contracts to others without further competitive bidding. We hold the District did, with…