Eligible Clayton County sophomores and juniors will likely receive their HOPE scholarships even if the school district loses accreditation.

Gov. Sonny Perdue will review a bill that allows students who graduate from unaccredited schools to still get their scholarship money.

Clayton County schools headlines: • Photos: Timeline of Clayton schools' woes Union members protest Clayton school pick  Retired Marine says he's a contender for Clayton schools chief  Clayton poised to hire retired Marine as superintendent  Clayton schools regain accreditation  Clayton schools to get $25M in federal aid  • AJC editorial: Less hope Read the full report to SACS: • Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Large PDFs) Read SACS' report (PDF) Clayton County news

Senate Bill 480, which passed the Senate and House last week, is for students who graduate from schools that had been accredited within the past seven years. If signed by the governor the law would be valid until Dec. 31, 2010, which would include current sophomores and juniors.

The law could help hundreds of Clayton students, who depend on HOPE money, district spokesman Charles White said.

"I think it helps from a standpoint because it protects their [students'] right to seek their opportunity to qualify for scholarships regardless of the circumstances of the accreditation issue," White said.

The Clayton school board is now drafting a resolution to send legislators, thanking them for the legislation.

With twin sons in the 11th grade at Jonesboro High School, HOPE scholarships are necessary for the Richard Penny.

"It would help our family," said Richard Penny, a father of three.

The bill will likely help Kaleb Penny, an honors student who wants to study photography at the Art Institute of Atlanta. However, his twin bother, Joshua, is hoping for a future at Brown University in Rhode Island. Georgia Tech is the back-up for Joshua, an honors student and president of the Clayton Student Coalition. The HOPE scholarship would not be available for students who enter schools outside of Georgia.

"We are still very, very concerned they would graduate from an unaccredited school," Richard Penny said Wednesday. "It's nice, but not good enough. We don't know how it will affect college admissions."

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools gave Clayton until Sept. 1 to meet nine mandates or lose accreditation. A loss of accreditation used to mean no HOPE scholarships. However, it still makes it difficult for students to get into some colleges and obtain some scholarships. It also lowers property values. Perdue has until May 14 to review all pending legislation and sign it into law, said Marshall Guest, a spokesman for the governor.

Staff reporter Aaron Gould Sheinin contributed to this article.