When accreditation officials visit Clayton County schools next month, they will find "buckets" of evidence to show progress the district has made, the superintendent said Monday.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools gave the district until Sept. 1 to meet nine mandates or lose accreditation.

That work is close to being done, new Superintendent John Thompson told about 50 parents Monday night.

"We're not hiding anything," Thompson said. "If we've done something wrong, we're going to fess up."

The district is planning a series of public forums to detail its progress on the mandates. The first will be Saturday at 10 a.m. at Lovejoy High School.

He listed the progress on the nine mandates:

Mandate: Establish a governing board that is capable of fulfilling its roles and responsibilities.

Actions: The school board revised several policies to prohibit board members from directing school staff, attending administrative meetings or interfering with day-to-day school operations. Board members Ericka Davis and Eddie White have resigned. The past five board meetings have averaged about 90 minutes and featured little fighting amongst board members.

The board still needs to be trained on the new policies.

Mandate: Remove the influence of outside groups/individuals.

Actions: In March, the board approved a policy that prohibits board members from talking with vendors during bid processes. Employees no longer can use the district's e-mail system for group activity, such as to recruit union members.

Thompson said the SACS report is ambiguous as to what the outside influences are, but he is working with SACS to identify those groups.

Mandate: Enact and commit to an ethics policy.

Actions: In April, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into a law a bill that provides an ethics policy with strict penalties for school board members.

The board has not addressed pending ethics complaints against board members Sandra Scott and David Ashe. Legislators need to appoint citizens to an ethics panel to hear complaints against the board.

Mandate: Review all board policies. Train board members on policies.

Actions: Attorneys have reviewed and rewritten some policies, but the board needs to be trained on the new policies.

Mandate: Conduct a full, forensic audit of finances.

Actions: The Investigative Accounting Group has been reviewing financial records and contracts and meeting with staff. Auditors will make recommendations, including changes to the district's vendor selection process.

Mandate: Conduct a comprehensive audit of student attendance records.

Actions: The state Office of Student Accountability has been reviewing attendance records. Auditors are expected to have a draft report completed in two to three weeks. The district will then adjust its practices.

"I said 'no problem; if we find something we're not going to push it under the rug,' " Thompson said. "We're going to come out and say guilty if they find something."

Mandate: Ensure each board member is a legal resident of the county and is eligible to hold office.

Actions: The board voted March 3 to remove Norreese Haynes after Clayton police found he did not live in the county. Haynes has filed suit in Superior Court, alleging he was illegally removed. The secretary of state's office has said every board member lives in the county.

Now a judge must decide if Haynes was illegally removed. All board members in the future will be required to sign an affidavit swearing to their residency. Board members Lois Baines-Hunter and Scott still have not signed the affidavits.

Mandate: Hire outside consultants with expertise in conflict resolution, governance and organizational effectiveness.

Actions: Randy Reece, a retired school human resources director, was hired in March to review the district's hiring practices and personnel procedures. The board attended training on ethical relations.

Next up, Reece will train the district on better hiring processes, and the board will attend additional leadership and ethics training.

Mandate: Appoint a permanent superintendent with the experience to lead the district.

Actions: The board has postponed a search for a permanent superintendent for a year, opting instead to hire Thompson for 14 months. The board will search for a permanent superintendent next year.