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Committee approves March 3 observance honoring Sister Sandra Smithson
Summary
House Bill 326 would designate March 3 as Sister Sandra Smithson Day in Tennessee to recognize her work founding Project Reflect and Smithson Craighead Academy; the committee approved the day of observance 18-0. The measure creates a day of recognition, not a legal holiday.
The House Education Full Committee approved House Bill 326 to designate March 3 of each year as Sister Sandra Smithson Day in Tennessee. The committee adopted an amendment and advanced the measure on an 18-0 vote.
"This seeks to designate March 3 each year on Tennessee's calendar as Sister Sandra Smithson Day. It's a day of observance. It's not a legal holiday," Representative Bolso, sponsor of the bill, told the committee.
Bolso reviewed Sister Sandra Smithson's life and work, saying she was born in 1926, earned a college degree at Xavier University, pursued graduate study at Fisk University, and ultimately entered religious life with the School Sisters of Saint Francis. Bolso described Smithson's founding of Project Reflect, a nonprofit to assist underprivileged children, and the later founding of Smithson Craighead Academy, which he said was the first charter school in Nashville established under earlier state legislation.
Bolso noted Sister Smithson's decades of work teaching and serving low‑income students in Tennessee and elsewhere, including work in Central America, and said she died on May 13, 2022. "She has a legacy that is something that I believe we should honor here in the state of Tennessee," Bolso said.
After discussion, the clerk reported an 18‑0 vote in favor of the observance. House Bill 326 will proceed through the legislative process as a day of recognition; committee members emphasized the bill establishes an observance rather than a legal holiday.
