Of the districts contracting for food, busing or custodial services, an impressive 89.1 percent (197 of the 221 contracting districts) reported being satisfied with their respective contracting experiences (see Graphic 15).

Of the remaining districts, 10.0 percent (22) of them reported being unsure as to whether or not they were satisfied with the contracting experience and only two districts (less than 1 percent) said they were dissatisfied.

There were a total of 11 districts that were not satisfied with their contracting experience in 2006. Of these, nine reported that they were satisfied in 2007. This suggests that districts have the flexibility to improve on their delivery of services in some way. Also, while exact figures are unavailable, a number of districts have changed vendors from last year. The ease with which districts can extricate themselves from a contractual relationship (many districts have short escape clauses built into contracts with their vendors) probably makes vendors more sensitive to performance issues than district employees would be.