How to Start/End a School Year Meal Service

This mini guide covers the essential steps for starting, joining, and ending a CACFP & SFSP School Year Meal Service. For a full reference with a rundown of all features, editing, viewing, exporting, and error log guidance, see the full CACFP&SFSP - School Year article here. 

How do I start a new School Year Meal Service?

You'll want to create a new school meal service at the time your meal service is about to begin, NOT the time you received the food.

To start a new school year meal service you will need to be logged into the site that is running the meal service. Click the School Year button on the Dashboard to be directed to the School Year Meal Service Details page, where you will complete all required fields before scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking the blue Start Meal Service button. 

For detailed information on all fields in the School Year Meal Service Details page, please see the full CACFP&SFSP - School Year article here. 

Once the meal service is started, you will land on the School Year Meal Service page. 

✅ A green banner across the top of the page tells you that the meal service has been created
✅ Below this will be the Countdown clock; counting down in real-time until the Meal Service ends
✅ Next to this will be the field that counts in real-time Total First Meals Served

- IF your agency tracks second meals you will see another field that counts in real-time Total Second Meals Served.
- IF your agency tracks third meals you will see another field that counts in real-time Total Third Meals Served.
- IF your agency allows it, you can add a new participant during the meal service directly from this page by clicking on the Add a Participant button on the right-hand side of the section housing the countdown clock and meals served counter boxes. 

The next section is the Meal Recording field, this field holds the table of participants. 
For detailed information on all Meal Recording fields in the School Year Meal Service page, please see the full CACFP&SFSP - School Year article here. 

⏭️ To record a meal for a participant - Click on the participant's row once. The row will turn grey, recording the participant's attendance, and the # of Meals column will display the letter A. Click the row a second time and it will turn green, recording that a meal was received. A third click will turn the row orange, recording that a second meal was received. Each additional click will record another meal and the row will turn red. If a meal was added by mistake, you can remove it by clicking the minus icon in the last column.
⏭️ Tracking additional options - Below the participant table are counter boxes for tracking the options set by your agency. The number of boxes will vary depending on what your agency tracks. To record and track information, click the + plus button, and use the - minus button to decrease the count. For example, for Additional Children Requesting Meal, click the + plus button for every extra child requesting a meal; the counter will increase accordingly. Click the - minus button to decrease the count if needed.
⏭️ Notes - On the right-hand side at the bottom of the page is a text box where you can add notes regarding the meal service. This allows you to keep additional context or important details about the service in one place.

Occasionally, more meals may be recorded than delivered if multiple users update the same participant simultaneously. The system will prompt for corrections during an active meal service, or mark meals with an Error status if the service has ended. Changing agency settings while a meal service is in progress may also cause errors. For full details on managing error statuses and settings, see the full CACFP&SFSP - School Year article here. 

How do I start a Concurrent School Year Meal Service?

Make sure the Track multiple meal services at same time Network Setting is enabled to use this feature, click here for instructions on changing network settings.

After starting one School Year Meal Service, perform the same steps as above to start another; head over to the left navigation pane, click the Meal Service heading, and then click the School Year option.

You will land on the School Year Meal Services table, the screen will dim and a pop-up notification will appear informing you that a meal is already in progress and give you the options to join an existing meal service or create a new one.

- Join Existing will take you to the school year meal service that is currently in progress. See How do I enter into a School Year Meal Service that's "In Progress"? for more information.
- To run another meal service at the same time as the first you'll click the + Create Now button, complete the School Year Meal Services fields, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the blue Start Meal Service button.

You will see the first meal service in the School Year Meal Services table recorded as In Progress:

How do I enter into a School Year Meal Service that's in progress?

To enter a meal service already in progress, click Meal Services in the left navigation pane, then select School Year. On the School Year Meal Services page, look for a service with a light blue In Progress status. Click the folder icon in the actions column to open the service, and when ready, click End Meal Service to complete it.

How do I end a School Year Meal Service in progress?

To end a meal service, click Meal Services in the left navigation pane, then select School Year. On the School Year Meal Services page, find the service marked In Progress and click the folder icon to view it. After recording all meals, click End Meal Service at the bottom right of the page.

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Tips & Best Practices 

💡 Start on time – Create a new meal service when your meal service is about to begin, not when you receive the food.
⏱️ Track in real-time – Update participant attendance and meal counts as they happen to avoid errors.
📝 Use notes – Add helpful context or details in the Notes section to keep records clear.
⚠️ Watch for errors – Address any prompts or Error statuses right away to maintain accurate reporting.
🤝 Coordinate concurrent services – If running multiple services at the same time, make sure everyone knows which service they’re updating.

For a full reference with a rundown of all features, editing, viewing, exporting, and error log guidance, see the full CACFP&SFSP - School Year article here.