The Clayton County school system will likely lose accreditation at the end of the summer, a group charged with overseeing the nation's schools decided Saturday.

The National Accreditation Commission board, meeting in Chicago, voted unanimously to revoke the 52,800-student district's accreditation on Sept. 1.

The only chance the district has to hold on to accreditation is to meet nine mandates by September. But that is highly unlikely, said Mark Elgart, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

"I do believe unless outside significant intervention is provided and support is provided, the system does not have the ability to meet the nine requirements," Elgart, whose Southern Association is a member of the accreditation commission, said Saturday evening from the group's board meeting.

Clayton will be only the second school district in the nation to lose accreditation. Duval County, Fla., lost accreditation in 1969. The schools in Hartford, Conn., were on the verge of losing their accreditation when the state stepped in and took over the district, Elgart said.

A loss of accreditation would mean no HOPE scholarships and difficulty getting into some colleges for older students, no pre-kindergarten funding for younger ones and lower property values for Clayton homeowners.

Clayton officials said they weren't surprised by the national vote, but were confident they could overhaul the district in time.

"We're a realistic board and know the situation we're in and know we have to move forward," board Chairwoman Ericka Davis said.

The board has already taken steps to improve, including removing board member Norreese Haynes for not living in the county, Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell said.

"There are several actions the current board has taken that I believe to be positive in nature, including steps they took this weekend," Bell said.

On Saturday, the school board interviewed two men for the job of corrective superintendent to help the district meet the nine mandates.

The board initially planned to make the appointment Saturday but amended its agenda after it was pointed out that state law requires final candidates to be publicly identified — something Clayton has failed to do.

Now, the board will wait at least two weeks before making a hire.

"They wanted to use the time they had to fully vet the candidates and explore all options," said school board attorney Dorsey Hopson.

The candidates are John W. Thompson, former schools superintendent of Pittsburgh and Tulsa, Okla.; and Santiago Wood, former superintendent of schools in Fresno and in Alum Rock, Ca.

Thompson says math and literacy test scores improved by 6 percent and 5 percent respectively under his leadership in Pittsburgh. Wood lists among his accomplishments in Fresno a major school construction project and a reduction in truancy.

Hiring a corrective superintendent should have convinced the Accreditation Commission that Clayton was moving in the right direction, said Bridget Harris, a junior and A-student at Jonesboro High School.

"It really shocked me," Harris said of the commission's vote. "I fully anticipated them to say we made progress ... but it's out of my control. We the students didn't do anything wrong."

Saturday's developments sealed Harris' decision. She said she would enroll at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School in Fairburn next year.

Joshua Penny, also a junior at Jonesboro, said he plans to continue pickets and other protests to push the board to meet the mandates.

"I'm really disappointed," said Penny, president of the Clayton Student Coalition. "I really didn't think this was going to go this far. It's unbelievable."

Elgart declined to comment on Clayton's progress, saying it was too fluid.

"Some days it is a step forward, and some days it is not a step forward," he said. "The important thing is results"

But even up to Friday, the district was violating policies.

Late Friday, Interim Superintendent Gloria Duncan e-mailed SACS a 68-page statement about what the district has done to meet the mandates, Davis said. The board had not voted on the statement, though, and Clayton submitted a retraction.

The national board's vote follows the Feb. 15 recommendation of SACS, which found "the effectiveness of the Clayton County board of education is fatally flawed."

SACS cited the district for unethical behavior including micromanaging, misuse of funds, conflict of interest, abuse of power and bid tampering. The national board, SACS' parent organization made up of 33 educators, spent about 90 minutes looking at Clayton's problems before voting, Elgart said.

"We provided a blueprint," Elgart said of the mandates. "The opportunity is there. Whether they follow up on that opportunity and take the necessary steps is up to them."

Vernetta Reeves isn't going to wait. The Jonesboro mother spent Saturday afternoon looking at new schools for her three children.

"I'm not going to sit here and let my children go through another year at Jonesboro," said Reeves, whose daughter is first in her junior class at Jonesboro High. "Who wants to keep living in fear? That's what we do. They have us on the edge so much, who knows what we are going to do?"