History
The Georgia State Board of Education appointed Dr. Edgar Floyd to chair a Public/Private School Accreditation Task Force in February 1997. The purpose of the Task Force would be to formulate an umbrella organization which would oversee the accreditation of private schools in the state primarily to provide for the transfer of credit and grades from accredited private schools to public schools. Under the supervision of the State Board, Dr. Floyd appointed the members of the Task Force listed below. The Public/Private Schools Accreditation Task Force subsequently recommended that this organization would be called the Georgia Private School Accreditation Council (GAPSAC) and that an interim Board of Directors be appointed for GAPSAC until formation of the Council was completed and Directors from member organizations were elected.
The interim Board of Directors consisted of the members of the Accreditation Task Force:
Edgar Floyd
Representative, Department of Education – Chairman
Bill Barr
Executive Director, Georgia School Superintendents Association
Malcolm Cummings
Georgia Association of Christian Schools
Henry Farr
Accrediting Association of Seventh-day Adventists
H.F. Johnson
Representative, Department of Education
Tom McClure
Association of Christian Schools International
Don Thornhill
Representative, Department of Education
1997
Meetings of the Public/Private Schools Accreditation Task Force were held on March 3, May 29, and July 7, 1997. During these meetings, the concept of the Georgia Private School Accreditation Council (GAPSAC) was discussed, the written documents were presented, and the wording refined. At the meeting on July 7, 1997, the motion was made by Don Thornhill and seconded by Bill Barr that the GAPSAC documentation be presented for consideration by the Georgia State Board of Education at the Board meeting on July 10, 1997. Affirmative vote of the Task Force was unanimous.
1998
At the August 13, 1998, meeting of the State Board of Education, the Board adopted a change to Rule 160- 5-1-15 adding the Georgia Private School Accreditation Council (GAPSAC) to the list of approved accrediting agencies. A letter from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia dated February 8, 1999, formally recognized GAPSAC as one of the three accrediting agencies whose decisions the Board of Regents will accept for admissions purposes.
1999
The organizational meeting of GAPSAC was held on March 31, 1999. Upon election of Directors from member organizations and appointment of a Director by the Georgia State Board of Education, the interim Directors resigned their responsibilities. Current and future members of the GAPSAC Board of Directors will, in accord with the GAPSAC Constitution, be made up of representatives of member organizations and a representative from the Georgia State Board of Education.