People Ex Rel. Willett Motor Coach Co. v. Board of Education

524 N.E.2d 1155, 171 Ill. App. 3d 166, 121 Ill. Dec. 107, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 745
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 26, 1988
Docket87-3319
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 524 N.E.2d 1155 (People Ex Rel. Willett Motor Coach Co. v. Board of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People Ex Rel. Willett Motor Coach Co. v. Board of Education, 524 N.E.2d 1155, 171 Ill. App. 3d 166, 121 Ill. Dec. 107, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 745 (Ill. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

JUSTICE McMORROW

delivered the opinion of the court:

The Board of Education of the City of Chicago (the Board of Education or Board) appeals from orders of the circuit court of Cook County that declared the Board obligated to award 1988 and 1989 summer school passenger bus service contracts for the Board’s special education program to Willett Motor Coach Company (Willett); directed the Board to award those contracts to Willett; and found the Board in breach of contract for its failure to award the 1987 summer school passenger bus service contract to Willett. The trial court reserved determination of damages relating to this breach of contract for a subsequent evidentiary hearing. The Board appeals from the trial court’s award of declaratory and injunctive relief.

We affirm.

Background

According to pertinent evidence presented at trial and the language of the relevant documents, the Board solicited bids in the spring of 1986 for transportation services in its special education program from August 1, 1986, through August 31, 1989. Bids were solicited for four types of vehicles, which were categorized as follows: (1) 40-passenger school buses (Type I); (2) 16-passenger vans (Type II); (3) vehicles with ramps (Type III); and (4) vehicles with mechanical lifting devices (Type IV). The Board’s solicitation required that bids for the regular school year be made on separate proposal forms for each of the four types of vehicles set forth above. With respect to bids for transportation work during the summer school session, the 1986 special education solicitation provided in relevant part as follows:

“Summer School Service — There will be no guarantee that summer schools will be in session or that the schools in any geographical area will be utilized as summer schools. Both of these conditions depend on Board of Education action and approval, and are contingent on budgetary restraints.
If a bid is submitted for regular school year service in one or more geographical areas, you must also submit a bid for summer school service. If, and when it is determined that there will be summer school sessions, the successful bidder(s) will also be eligible for providing summer school service in any geographical area.
Since the number of vehicles required for summer school service will be less than the number required for regular school year service, the vendor with the lowest daily rate per vehicle ***, and for each type of vehicle, will be awarded summer school service, and subsequently to the vendor who quoted the next lowest daily rate per vehicle until the required number of vehicles have been obtained.”

Willett’s bid in response to this solicitation offered to provide all of the Board’s 40-passenger buses during the regular school year at a daily rate of $138 per vehicle. It also included an alternate bid that offered to provide all the Board’s 40-passenger buses during the regular school year at a daily rate of $124.15 per vehicle, provided Willett was also awarded contracts for at least a certain specified number of 16-passenger vans and vans with ramps. Willett also submitted a separate bid for summer school service in which it offered to provide 40-passenger buses at a daily rate of $108 per vehicle.

Thereafter the Board’s bureau of purchasing submitted a report containing its recommendations regarding the award of transportation service contracts for the special education program. The bureau of purchasing proposed acceptance of Willett’s alternate bid to provide all of the Board’s 40-passenger buses and a certain number of 16-pas-senger vans and vans with ramps. The bureau of purchasing also suggested acceptance of the bids of Steward Bus Companies, Inc. (Stewart), and Student Transit Corp. (Student) to provide the remaining number of 16-passenger vans and vans with ramps which the Board would require during the regular school year. With respect to summer school transportation awards in the special education program, the report listed all companies that were responsible bidders for the regular school year work in the program for each type of vehicle, ranking these companies according to their daily rate per vehicle. The Board adopted the recommendation of the bureau of purchasing in its entirety. Thus for the 1986-87 and 1987-88 regular school years, Willett was the only provider of 40-passenger buses for the special education program.

In April 1987, the Board approved the continuation of the special education program for the 1987 summer session. Although Board employees initially indicated to Willett that Willett would receive the 1987 summer school contract for 40-passenger buses, this was later countermanded by the superintendent of the Chicago public schools. Pursuant to the superintendent’s direction, the award of 40-passenger bus service was made first to Stewart, whose bid was $103, then to Student, whose bid was $103.90, and then to Willett, whose bid was $108. Summer school classes began in mid-June 1987. For the 1987 summer school session, Stewart provided transportation services to 30 schools, Student serviced six schools and Willett serviced approximately 30 schools.

Willett filed an action in the circuit court of Cook County alleging that the Board’s solicitation obligated it to award the summer school 40-passenger bus contract to Willett. As ultimately amended, Willett’s complaint sought, inter alia, a declaratory judgment, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, mandamus, and damages for breach of contract. The trial court denied Willett’s separate motion for a temporary restraining order and set the matter for a hearing on Willett’s “request for preliminary injunction.” On the day scheduled for the preliminary injunction hearing, the court entered an order setting “the matter *** for trial on all issues, - except damages, raised in” Willett’s complaint regarding the award of the summer school passenger bus service contract.

Following trial, the court entered an order in September 1987 that declared the Board obligated to award the 1988 and 1989 summer school passenger bus service contracts to Willett, granted a “preliminary mandatory injunction” to direct the Board’s award of the contract to Willett rather than any other bidders, and found the Board’s failure to award the 1987 summer school contract to Willett to constitute a breach of contract. A hearing to determine damages for said breach of contract was scheduled for a later date. Thus the court decided all issues raised in Willett’s complaint with respect to the summer school passenger bus service contracts except the question of damages relating to breach of contract for the 1987 summer school period.

Construing the trial court’s order as one for preliminary injunctive relief, the Board appealed therefrom pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 307(a) (107 Ill. 2d R. 307(a)). During the pendency of the appeal, the trial court, upon motion by Willett, entered an order in March 1988 finding that its September 1987 order was actually one for permanent injunctive relief. The trial court determined that this correction was appropriate under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 329 (107 Ill. 2d R. 329). At the request of the Board, the trial court’s order further found no just reason to delay enforcement or appeal. (107 Ill. 2d R.

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Bluebook (online)
524 N.E.2d 1155, 171 Ill. App. 3d 166, 121 Ill. Dec. 107, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 745, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-willett-motor-coach-co-v-board-of-education-illappct-1988.