The Tennessee General Assembly and Governor Bill Lee honored school custodians throughout the state last month with the passage of Senate Joint Resolutions 11 and 31.
Senate Joint Resolution 11, sponsored by State Senator Page Walley (R-Savannah), was agreed to unanimously and signed by the governor on February 14.
The resolution, according to its text, provides for state lawmakers and the governor to “recognize and honor the school custodians of Tennessee, commending them for their dedication and the hard work they do day after day to keep our schools clean and well maintained for the children of the Volunteer State.”
Custodians are further recognized in the resolution as hard-working” individuals who are the “unsung heroes” of Tennessee schools.
“Throughout the school year, the school custodians of Tennessee ensure the children of the Volunteer State have clean, healthy, and safe learning environments. [T]he unsung heroes of our schools, custodians are hard-working individuals who dedicate countless hours to clean and maintain our school buildings for our students and school staff,” the resolution reads.
“[T]he work of school custodians is physically demanding and, depending on the position, may require custodians to work varying shifts and possibly in several locations; they may be part of a team or work independently, responsible for a multitude of duties. [I]t is most appropriate that we recognize the many contributions of school custodians to the State of Tennessee,” the resolution adds.
Senate Joint Resolution 21, sponsored by State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville), honored school custodians in a similar fashion as Senate Joint Resolution 11 and was signed by the governor on February 10.
In 1985, a national Custodian Appreciation Day was established to honor and celebrate school custodians every year on October 2.
State Senator Paul Bailey (R-Sparta) is sponsoring a resolution in the General Assembly that would designate October 2 as “School Custodian Day” in honor of the school custodians of Tennessee.
Bailey’s resolution was referred to the Senate Education Committee for further consideration last month.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
