Williamson County parents who benefit from the school lunch and breakfast program aren't happy about recent comments by the county's Republican Party chairman.
Republican Party chairman Kevin Kookogey made a strong statement about the federal government feeding kids at school.
He wrote the following in a letter he posted on the county Republican Party Web site:
"Ladies and gentlemen, Williamson County, one of the wealthiest counties in the nation by any measure, is now operating under a perverse incentive to increase the number of students taking government hand-outs. Of course, those handouts are courtesy of you and me, the federal taxpayers."
Kookogey's comments are in response to the county's participation in the national school breakfast program.
The federal government reimburses school systems for the meals of the children that qualify.
Because of the program, the cafeteria budget for county schools has nearly doubled to $650,000.
Director of Williamson County Schools Mike Looney told Nashville's News 2 on Friday that he thinks Kookogey is misinformed.
Looney said, "The one beautiful thing about America is everybody's entitled to their opinion even if their opinion is wrong. We stand ready to serve the students of Williamson County, and we think them having two nutritious meals a day would be very appropriate and be very condusive to quality learning in the classroom."
Twelve percent of the county's 32,000 students are in the program.
Students can qualify for the school breakfast program if their family is at or below 130% of the federal poverty level.
That's just more than $29,000 a year for a family of four.
Tinisha Harrison, a single mom of five young boys, says her family has benefited from the program.
All of her children in school are on the free and reduced lunch program.
"We've fallen on hard times and it helps out, we need it," said Harrison.
Even though she lives in Williamson County, she disagrees with the Republican leader's remarks and believes the free and reduced meal program helps families like hers.
"To be honest, I think it's wrong, because most people need it, we may be the richest county, but there are people here that aren't so rich, and they need the free lunch, and I don't think it'll be a good idea if they took it away," said Harrison.
Harrison feels the Williamson County Republican might change his mind if he knew what it was life was like in her shoes.
"Put their feet in our shoes. That's what I would say, ‘You put your feet in our shoes... and you'll see how hard it is to try and keep your family fed," said Harrison.
The federal government reimburses schools for every breakfast served, ranging from $1.51 for a free meal to $1.21 for a reduced-price breakfast.
The schools can also get more money if they meet the designation for "severe need."
