In fall 1990, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) contracted with Price Waterhouse to complete a study of the use of food-service management companies (FSMCs) by school districts that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Tentative findings include: (1) contracts between school districts and FSMCs address some, but not all basic school nutrition requirements; they varied considerably in their compliance with and operate school nutrition programs. This document presents the findings of a review of a nationally representative sample of contracts between school districts and FSMCs, and describes the extent to which these contracts reflected established criteria for contracting with FSMCs. The report describes FSMCs and the contractual controls available to school districts, the range of food services provided by FSMCs, the financial terms of the contracts, and other contractual and business issues. Findings indicate that: (1) contracts between school districts and FSMCs address some, but not all basic school nutrition requirements; they varied considerably in their compliance with regulatory requirements about key school district responsibilities; (2) contracts generally conformed to USDA regulations on payment structures; (3) many contracts contained accounting requirements, but provided limited guidance on reporting and accountability; and (4) contracts generally described the services that FSMCs were expected to provide; however, there was wide variation in the numbers of services to be provided and the detail with which these services were described. Forty tables and four exhibits are included. Appendices describe study methodology and contract origins. (LMI)