Of the signs carried among about 400 protesters in Clayton County on Saturday morning, Regina Hall's best summed up the growing movement to oust the county's entire school board and start over: "All 9 Must Resign."

A few minutes later, that became the chant led by a man with a bullhorn ("All nine must resign! All nine must resign!") as the marchers moved up Lake Harbin Road to hear speeches denouncing the nine board members.

JOHNNY CRAWFORD/AJC (ENLARGE)

Anthony Williams represents one of the groups involved in the protest against the Clayton County school board.

JOHNNY CRAWFORD/AJC (ENLARGE)

Noreen McNear, who marched despite an injured foot, was accompanied by her daughter, Angelia Birdsong.

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"I'm really in an outrage and so are all these people," said Hall, 36, a truck driver for Federal Express and the mother of three Jonesboro Middle School students.

"I stay on my kids to go to school every day and study so they can get the HOPE Scholarship," she said. "If this school board costs our school system its accreditation, my children don't get the HOPE, and I can't afford to pay for college."

A large force of Clayton County police blocked off about a half-mile stretch of the road for the "March For Our Children" protest, organized by a group calling itself the Concerned Citizens Coalition.

Many marchers were students wearing "Clayton County Students' Coalition" T-shirts.

Lauren Mains, 18, a graduating senior at Riverdale High School, carried a sign: "Clayton County School Board Parole Our Children's Future."

Mains said she was graduating this year, so the loss of accreditation wouldn't hurt her.

"But I'm still concerned because I have a little brother in the fourth grade," she said. "And it's important that the school board sees the show of passion for change."

Organizers hoped Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue would attend. He didn't.

But they were encouraged, they said, that he stepped in about 10 days ago to help the county keep its accreditation.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools recommended Clayton lose its accreditation because of ethics violations. The public furor, and investigations so far, have focused on four of the board's nine members: Norreese Haynes, Sandra Scott, Lois Baines-Hunter and Rod Johnson.

Anthony Williams, one of the leaders of the march, said he was disappointed more people didn't show up. He said he had hoped for a turnout of 1,000 people for every district in the school system, for a total of 9,000 participants. "But, we're still blessed," he said.

Elsa Celestine handed out fliers for the Scholars Academy, a state charter public elementary school which will open in Morrow in August. She is executive director of the school.

"I want people to know they have choices," Celestine said. "But it's important that they also fix the problems. It's too important for 53,000 students in this county. We can't just look at the problem and walk away."

At the end of the march, Concerned Citizens Chairman Bob Hartley stood on a podium in the parking lot of Southside Peach Plaza and told the group that their protest was just the start.

On Monday, he said, the group would go to a meeting of the Clayton County school board to ask for its members' resignations. If they don't resign, the group plans to go to the state elections board Tuesday with petitions to get all nine recalled from office.