FAQ

You can make a payment using any of the payment sources accepted for your district by either entering the details or by selecting one of your saved payment sources from your Payment Info menu. On your Dashboard, select Make a Payment, or expand the student/staff details of a person on your account and select Automatic Payment.

Yes, you may prepay in person at the campus café by cash or check. However, we prefer payments to be made online for several reasons:

• It helps us provide quicker speed of service during meal times.
• You’re in control. No chance of your student losing the money or forgetting to bring it to the café.

Should you choose to pay in-person, please help us by making the payment during breakfast when possible. Also, when writing a check, please include applicable student ID’s on the check.

SchoolCafé accepts payments by Discover, and credit/debit cards with the Visa or MasterCard logo, but you may also make payment via check or cash at your student’s campus.  Payments made via credit or debit cards are subject to a 3.5% transaction fee.

You may also make payment via ACH (electronic check).  There is no fee for payments made via ACH.  

Our school district has established the following policy for accepting checks and collecting bad checks: For a check to be an acceptable form of payment it must include your current, full and accurate name, address, telephone number, driver’s license number and state, along with the student ID number of all students for which payment is being made.

When paying by check you authorize the recovery of unpaid checks and the recovery of the state allowed fee by means of electronic re-presentment. In the event your check is returned by the bank unpaid, checks will no longer be an acceptable form of payment for the remainder of the school year. Alternative forms of payment must be used instead of a check payment (cash, credit card, online payment). No temporary checks will be accepted.

Payments can be set up as either One-Time or Automatic (triggered any time your student's account falls below your pre-determined limit).

The SchoolCafe payments are immediately displayed in the pending payments area. Once SchoolCafe transfers the money to your student’s school or organization it is available for use. In most cases this is available within minutes but could take up to 48 hours. If you have made a payment, you may utilize the payment tracking arrows to ensure your funds have been applied and are ready for use. Once all arrows are highlighted, the school has received the funds and are ready for use.

For either One-Time or an Automatic Payments, SchoolCafé adds a small fee to all online payments. This is done in order to provide you with features such as detailed purchase history from the school cafeteria, low balance reminders, fast payment processing and more. And, as you may expect with other online services (such as purchasing movie or concert tickets), these fees cover the operational and administrative costs of providing the convenience of paying online. The convenience fee information is 3.5% and is displayed on each payment page. If you have any questions regarding how it is calculated, please call 972-708-2328.

The minimum TOTAL payment must be no less than $20.00. The $20.00 may be divided between more than one student account, but the minimum combined total must be at least $20.00. If you wish to make a payment less than $20.00, you may do so with cash or check in your student’s campus cafeteria.

Yes. If you make a payment online at SchoolCafe. You may pay for multiple items and/or multiple students in a single transaction.  Please note that the minimum total payment must be at least $20.00.  

SchoolCafé follows industry best practices in maintaining security. We use 128-bit encryption to secure data transfer between your browser and our server. From the time you login until the time you logout, all data is encrypted.

All credit card information is encrypted. We make sure our systems are reliable and secure to thwart any attacks of identity theft. We maintain very strict security features. SchoolCafé employees do not have access to your credit card information, as this data is encrypted when it is stored in the SchoolCafé system.

First, ensure you have the 6-digit student ID for each student in your household. Student ID’s can be obtained by contacting the front office of your child’s campus. Second, visit https://www.schoolcafe.com/duncanville and follow the on-screen instructions.

SchoolCafé provides the capability to set individual Low Balance limit amounts for each of your accounts. If the balance of any account goes below the limit, SchoolCafé will send you an email.

In an effort for every child to have the meal of their choice, the Child Nutrition department utilizes the School Messenger system to call households for all students with a low balance. The best way to avoid low and negative balance phone calls is to sign up for automatic payments at https://www.schoolcafe.com/duncanville. This service is free! If you have requested your number to be blocked in the past, it is still blocked.

Please log in to your SchoolCafé account. Occasionally, outside factors may cause disruption of this service. You may also contact your cafeteria manager to obtain a print out of activities. It is free to use SchoolCafe if you would like to monitor your student's account or apply for Free and Reduced Priced Meals. It is also free to set up low balance alerts to be sent to your phone or email.

If you do not remember your username: On the Sign In screen, select the Forgot Username? link. Enter your email address. Select the Retrieve Username button. Your username will then be emailed to you.

On the Sign In screen, select the Forgot Password? link. Enter your username and email address, then select Next. Answer your Security Question. Enter your new password and re-enter your new password, then select Login.

Parents who wish to limit their child’s spending may do so by placing restrictions directly in SchoolCafé, or by contacting our office at 972-708-2328. Restrictions will remain on the student’s account until you remove the restriction on SchoolCafe or you contact our office for us to remove the restriction(s).

SchoolCafé only requires a one-time, free registration. You will not need to re-register your account at any point, even if you have a new student entering the school system. Simply log in to SchoolCafé, click on "Add/Delete students" option, and follow the simple instructions to edit your account.

A Student ID or Pin # can be obtained by contacting the student's school or by contacting the cafeteria. It may also available from one of the following resources:

• Report card
•  School registration paper work
• Student schedule
• Bus card
•  Student ID card
• ACT test results
• Transcripts
• School office/Data clerk
• Child Nutrition office (972-708-2328)

In order to transfer funds between accounts, the parent/guardian should call the Child Nutrition office or send an email.  The individual contacting Child Nutrition must be listed on the student’s account as a guardian.  The parent will need to provide either the student ID# or first and last name along with their grade.  

A student who withdraws from the district may receive a refund at the campus (subject to register availability) with a written request from the parent/guardian. The written request should include student name and ID, current address, and reason for the refund. If the amount to be refunded is not available in the cafeteria, a request must be submitted to the Nutrition Services Office. A completed refund form and a copy of the parent's photo ID will be required. A check will be mailed to the student’s address; please allow 4-6 weeks to receive the refund.    

refund request

This relates to federal guidelines and federal funding. Because we offer a choice of entrees, the student must independently select a reimbursable meal. We can offer, but not serve, so that is why we have to ask faculty not to add additional items to student trays. We cannot make changes that seem like we are forcing students to take full meals to increase our federal funding. In summary, teachers may suggest not tell or force students to take items offered

The main reason we do not encourage the practice of sharing food is due to food allergies.  We have many students in the district with food allergies and intolerances.  In the cafeteria, we help to ensure students do not get food to which they are allergic.  If students are sharing food in the eating area, a student could consume a food that causes an allergic reaction. 

Absolutely!  We offer a la carte items such as ice cream, chips, milk, and bottled water to all students, staff and visitors.  Students can purchase a la carte items using money on their accounts or using cash or check brought from home.