Members of the Robertson County Schools Nutrition Department joined the Tennessee Justice Center at the State Capitol on Feb. 25 for a legislative breakfast to promote a bill that would cover reduced-priced school meals for eligible students statewide. RCS
In an effort to raise awareness and support for a bill that would provide free school meals for certain students throughout the state, members of the nutrition department with Robertson County Schools partnered with the Tennessee Justice Center last month to host a legislative breakfast with state lawmakers.
The breakfast, which occurred on Feb. 25 at the Tennessee State Capitol, was created to help promote HB1153/SB740. Initially considered during the 2025 Tennessee legislative session, if passed it would have the state cover the reduced-price portion of school meals for eligible students statewide.
According to a press release from the school district, while the federal government currently pays for most of these meals, families in the reduced-price category still pay 30 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch.
Although Robertson County already covers those amounts, allowing reduced-price students there to still eat at no cost, most other districts do not do this.
“While this amount may seem small to many, some families struggle to cover it, particularly with multiple children,” the district stated.
The proposed bill would shift those 30- and 40-cent charges to the state, at an estimated statewide cost of about $2.4 million, including roughly $90,000 annually for Robertson County alone.
According to the district, last month’s breakfast grew out of earlier advocacy efforts that included a November symposium and a summer hunger summit in Carthage hosted with the Tennessee Justice Center’s Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Initiative.
At that summit, local advocates impressed Representative Michael Hale, who would later sponsor a summer EBT bill and signed on to the reduced-price meals bill, making him the key legislative supporter featured in the breakfast’s discussions.
Lilian Marcum, the Tennessee Justice Center’s child anti-hunger advocate who lobbies daily at the Capitol, also pushed for an event that would let lawmakers see and eat an actual school breakfast, which led directly to the event at the State Capitol in February.
According to district officials who attended, the breakfast exceeded expectations, drawing roughly 100 attendees before 8:30 a.m., with steady traffic throughout the morning.
While many attendees commented on the high quality and health attributes of the meal, event organizers also used the morning to highlight how school nutrition programs can remove barriers to learning by ensuring students are well fed.
“(Organizers) argued that eliminating reduced-price charges would directly help families in every county, including the 732 Robertson County students who currently qualify for reduced-price meals,” the district stated in the press release. “They also stressed the broader economic benefits that would result from the bill’s enactment: families would keep more money for groceries and other essentials, and, in turn, spending would generate sales tax revenue for the state.”
Because the bill has already cleared several committees and is now only stalled due to a lack of funding, the breakfast focused on increasing awareness and building support, rather than introducing a brand-new idea.
Drawing on their experience in county government and statewide nutrition work, organizers are also preparing one-page briefs for finance committees while they continue their lobbying efforts, among which includes possible future breakfasts and even a potential trip to Washington, D.C. to maintain pressure and support for better meal funding.
