Richmond County School System announced its Board President, Mr. Jimmy Atkins was appointed by Governor Brian P. Kemp to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. Mr. Atkins was one of five Commissioners named to serve by the Governor last week.

“It is indeed a pleasure to be appointed by the Governor of the great State of Georgia to serve on the Professional Standards Commission.  It is very humbling when I stop and think I was chosen from over 1,000 school board members across the state.  I will be very diligent in my duties knowing I am representing the citizens of Richmond County and the State of Georgia,” said Atkins of the appointment.

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission has responsibility for the preparation, certification, and professional conduct of certified personnel employed in the Georgia public schools.  The Commission has as its mission to build the best prepared, best qualified and most ethical educator workforce in the nation. 

Mr. Atkins received an associate's degree in Accounting from Augusta College and bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Brenau University. He is a self-employed insurance agent for Aflac, and he has served on the Richmond County Board of Education since 2005, where he is in his second term as board president. In 2019, he was elected as the tenth district representative for the Georgia School Boards Association Board of Directors. Atkins also serves as a board member on the Richmond County Board of Health and Boys and Girls Clubs of the CSRA, and he is an ordained Southern Baptist deacon, mason, and shriner. He and his wife, Donna, have been married for twenty-six years and have two children, Elisa and Jacob.