The Clayton County school system has a "very slim" chance of keeping its accreditation, the superintendent said Monday.

That's a turnaround for Superintendent John Thompson, who has been saying since he started in April that he was confident the district would keep its accreditation.

"From Day 1, I wanted full accreditation. After talking to all the politicians, people and powers that be, we have a very slim chance of maintaining accreditation at all," Thompson said Monday in his state of the system address. "It could have dampened my spirits, but it did not."

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools gave the district until Sept. 1 to meet nine mandates or be the first in the nation to lose accreditation since 1969.

Thompson has implemented an internal July 15 deadline to meet the mandates.

"When somebody told me I couldn't do it, it gave me more zest to succeed," Thompson said in an interview Monday night.

In his address posted online Monday, Thompson said he still plans to show SACS the progress the board has made by that July 15 deadline, but is not so confident that the district can complete all of SACS' requests. Thompson said he expects SACS to place the district on probation as long as school officials show they are aggressively working on the mandates.

SACS investigators will return Aug. 1 to assess the district's progress.

"SACS has been very, very thorough and very upfront in what they are expecting Aug. 1," Thompson said in his address, the first of his monthly reports.

Thompson has met with SACS president and chief executive officer Mark A. Elgart three times to go over what the superintendent called ambiguity in the mandates, Elgart said.

The mandates include establishing a board capable of meeting its roles and responsibilities, following an ethics policy and removing outside influences. The board also must hire a permanent superintendent and undergo training, review its policies and make sure every board member lives in his or her district.

The district also is mandated to have its financial and attendance records audited.

In his address, Thompson also said that he may be the "most powerful" superintendent in the country. His 14-month contract allows him to supersede board policies because of the challenges he faces, Thompson said.

"The power the board has given me, anointed me with, is very unusual," he said. "The Board of Education has placed a lot of confidence in my leadership to make the right decisions for the district."

Thompson will outline the district's progress on the mandates at his third public forum, scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at Sequoyah Middle School in Riverdale.