Clayton County elections officials have certified recall applications, giving the green light for voters to move forward with efforts to remove two school board members.

This week, Michelle Strong and Sandra Scott — the only board members not up for re-election — waived their right to appeal the recall efforts, elections official said.

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Last week, the Clayton elections office certified a recall application to remove Strong from her District 1 seat and two applications to remove Scott from her District 9 seat.

"Sandra Scott and Michelle Strong have already been notified that applications were turned in and found sufficient," said Allison Ruotolo, a Clayton elections and registration official. "They had four days to petition Superior Court. We haven't received anything from the court."

Residents now need to collect signatures from 30 percent of the voters who were registered in those districts when Strong and Scott were elected. For Strong, that means 6,153 signatures. For Scott, it is 5,266.

Elections officials said they are ready to move forward, but no one has picked up the petitions for the recalls. Once they do, residents will have 45 days to collect the signatures.

Elections officials will then have another 30 to 45 days to certify the signatures and advertise an election, which likely will be in September, Ruotolo said.

District 9 voters plan to set up booths throughout the neighborhoods on May 21 to gather signatures, said Bob Hartley, president of the District 9 activist group, the Concerned Citizens Coalition.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools ordered the district to meet nine mandates or lose accreditation on Sept. 1. One of those mandates is to establish a capable board.

The best way to do that is to have nine new board members, said the district's advisers, including two state board of education members.

Strong, the Clayton school board chairwoman, said she plans to remain on the board and is confident the board can save the district's accreditation.

"The citizens of District 1 will have to do what they think is best," Strong said in a statement Wednesday. "Since I came on the board of education last year, I have geared my efforts to making Clayton County Public Schools the best it can be."

Scott declined to comment, saying she had not received anything from the elections office.