Coweta
County’s
Central
Educational
Center (CEC)
is going
to be
well-represented
at the
state
level,
following
appointments
of two
of its
leaders
to
Georgia
boards
and
commissions.
CEC’s
High
School
Program
Director
Andy
Peryam
was
named by
executive
appointment
last
week to
the
state’s
Nonpublic
Postsecondary
Education
Commission
by
Governor
Sonny
Perdue.
The
announcement
of
Peryam’s
appointment
to the
state
educational
commission
followed
a May 4
announcement
by Lt.
Governor
Casey
Cagle
that
Central
Educational
Center
CEO Mark
Whitlock
would
join the
Lt.
Governor’s
25-member
Advisory
Board.
Peryam –
who is
retiring
from CEC
at the
end of
this
school
year –
will
serve as
one of
14
members
on the
Georgia
Nonpublic
Postsecondary
Education
Commission
(NPEC).
The NPEC
ensures
that
applicable
colleges
or
schools
authorized
by the
state of
Georgia
are
educationally
sound
and
financially
stable,
assure
students
that the
school’s
program
of study
meet
minimum
standards,
and
assures
prospective
employers
that
graduates
have
acquired
appropriate
job
skills.
While
NPEC is
not an
accrediting
agency,
it does
authorize
postsecondary
institutions
to
operate
under
Georgia
law,
which is
an
important
first
step in
accreditation.
The
commission
also
reviews
and
authorizes
each
college
or
school
annually,
provides
consumer
information
and
protection,
resolves
student
complaints,
manages
institution
closures
and
resulting
student
records,
prepares
required
publications
and
grants
exemptions
as
applicable,
and
develops
new and
revised
standards,
procedures,
regulations
and
schedules
in
response
to
changing
laws,
needs
and
circumstances.
Appointed
to the
commission
along
with
Peryam
were
attorney
Max
Davis of
Atlanta,
University
of
Phoenix
state of
Georgia
director
Dennis
Clem of
Savannah,
Merrill
Lynch
financial
advisor
Roy
Nunnally
Roberts,
Jr., of
Monroe,
attorney
Rebecca
Robin
Burgess
of
Macon,
Georgia
Department
of
Education
program
manager
Claire
DuPree
Pierce
of Rome,
and
Vernon
Nathaniel
Hansford
(past
president
of North
Georgia
College
and
State
University
and
former
dean of
the
University
of
Alabama
School
of Law)
of
Lexington.
In
addition
to his
duties
at CEC,
Peryam
is a
member
of the
Association
for
Career
and
Technical
Educators,
the
Professional
Association
of
Georgia
Educators,
vice
president
of the
Trade
and
Industrial
Educators
of
Georgia
and
serves
on the
Board of
Directors
for the
Georgia
Association
of
Career
and
Technical
Educators.
Mark
Whitlock
was
named as
an
educational
advisor
to Lt.
Governor
Casey
Cagle’s
Advisory
Board.
Members
of the
board
provide
the Lt.
Governor
with
input
and
counsel
when
considering
major
legislation
or
situations
affecting
the
issue
areas in
which
they
serve,
said
Cagle’s
office.
Cagle
appointed
members
to his
Education,
Agriculture,
Economic
Development,
Healthcare
and
Public
Safety
Advisory
Boards.
Whitlock
was
named to
the
Education
board
along
with Dr.
Steve
Ballowe,
(Superintendent
of
Gainesville
City
Schools),
Ken
Breeden
(the
former
CEO and
Commissioner
of the
Georgia
Department
of
Technical
and
Adult
Education)
Patti
Stafford
(a
former
teacher
and AT&T
account
executive)
and
Allen
Rice
(the
president
of
Savannah
Luggage
Works).
In
addition
to
serving
as the
CEO of
the
Central
Educational
Center,
Whitlock
has
worked
with the
Bank of
America
building
commercial
banking
relationships,
and
currently
serves
as the
Chairman
of the
Newnan-Coweta
Chamber
of
Commerce,
among
several
other
community
posts.
The
Central
Educational
Center
charter
school
is a
joint
venture
among
local
business
leaders,
the
Coweta
County
School
System
and West
Central
Technical
College.
CEC has
been
named a
National
Model
School,
and 450
groups
have
visited
the
Coweta
school
because
of its
unique
educational
model.