CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. -- A Georgia county school district lost its accreditation, an unusual move blamed in part on what has been called a "dysfunctional" school board.

Clayton County Commissioner Eldrin Bell confirmed the loss of the accreditation Thursday to Channel 2's Tom Jones, shortly before the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools was to announce the news from its offices in Decatur.

The Clayton County School District had to address nine different mandates from SACS. Officials said Thursday the district only reached one.

Officials said Governor Perdue has removed four members of the Clayton County school board, per a state judge's recommendation.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced that the 50,000-student school system is the third in the nation to lose accreditation since 1969.

The loss of accreditation means students will have a tougher time getting into some colleges and universities. They may also have difficulty obtaining scholarships.

The association issued a scathing report in February calling Clayton County's school board "dysfunctional" and "fatally flawed." It gave the district until Sept. 1 to overhaul the system.

SURVEY: Should Clayton County Schools Have Lost Accreditation?

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools planned to let the Clayton County school system know its decision right before a 1 p.m. news conference. Channel 2 learned that school officials, including Eldrin Bell, got there early Thursday morning and found out its fate.

The entire process began late in 2007 when SACS began investigating the school system after board members complained about unethical behavior on the board.

SACS found the board fatally flawed and voted to revoke the 50,000 student school system’s accreditation. The school system could keep it if it met nine mandates, including training board members on policies and procedures and enacting an ethics policy.

The superintendent told Channel 2 early Wednesday he was confident the school system had met those mandates and would keep its accreditation. Superintendent John Thompson said Wednesday that the wait was nerve-wracking.

“This county can’t stand it anymore. Enough is enough. And we need to get along with the education for our children and let these other issues move on,” said Thompson.

A team from the association visited the Georgia school district last week to review whether the district had done enough to keep its accreditation.

Governor Perdue Removes School Board Members

Governor Sonny Perdue issued an executive order Thursday removing four members of the Clayton County School Board - Michelle Strong, Louise Baines-Hunter, Yolonda Everett and Sandra Scott - who were found by State Administrative Hearing Judge Michael Malihi to have violated their duties under state law.

PDF: Recommended Decision To Governor

Judge Michael M. Malihi said Wednesday, "It is the recommendation of this court that Sandra Scott, Lois Baines-Hunter, A. Michelle Strong, and Yolanda Everett be removed from their positions as members of the Clayton County Board of Education."

Malihi said they should be removed for violating the state's open meetings act and the ethics code.

The governor's executive order also formally removed Rod Johnson and Norreese Haynes who had previously resigned or been removed. The removal means special elections will be held in November to serve the remainder of Sandra Scott's and Michelle Strong's terms, which end on December 31, 2010. Regular elections are already being held for the seats occupied by Yolanda Everett and Louise Baines-Hunter, whose terms are up at the end of 2008.

"The fate of the Clayton County School System is now in the hands of the voters," said Governor Sonny Perdue. "Through the elections to replace these four board members, they can send a clear signal that the kind of behavior that has led to this ruling and the system's loss of accreditation will not be tolerated. We can hope that this marks a new day for Clayton County, a time in which rebuilding can begin."

"I can only hope the remaining members of the board, parents and teachers will treat the loss of accreditation as a wake up call to pull together and make substantive changes in the way this system is operated," Governor Perdue said. "Even the state's offer of help was met with resistance from the board. We will now turn our focus to helping the system regain accreditation as quickly as possible."

State Senator Reacts

State Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) issued a statement Thursday about the loss of accreditation. He said, "The loss of accreditation for Clayton County schools is a tragedy for students, parents and teachers. Students in Clayton County lost access to scholarships. Parents have lost the ability to take advantage of state funding for programs like Pre-K. Teachers will lose some benefits. Parents are left to wonder if their children's futures are in jeopardy."

Johnson's statement ended with, "These are the repercussion of decisions made when elected officials do not act in the best interest of those they serve."

Parents React

As the busses rolled out of Clayton County’s Mount Zion High School, students and parents reacted with shock about the SACS decision despite months of controversy and speculation.

“I’m surprised that we lost. I’m surprised the outcome came out this way. I really expected it to be turned around, or at the most, probation,” said parent Joann Mitchell-Stringer.

All were concerned for the students’ futures. A lot of parents were angry at the Clayton County school board.

“They didn’t do the work that was supposed to be done. They did it in the last 60 days and they had six months to do this improvement,” said parent Mary Ellen Mueller.

A loss of accreditation means the 50,000 Clayton County students could have trouble getting into some colleges or universities or getting scholarship money.

“If we come from a non-accredited school, colleges in different states may look down on us and they may not accept us,” said student Brishanna Kendrick.

“I think it really is the school board’s fault and it shouldn’t be on us,” said student Linnette Jones.

The talk Thursday among students and parents was mostly about moving out of Clayton County to other districts.

“My mom is thinking of moving. She probably even is trying to get me into other schools, like Woodward or something,” said Jones.

“I’ve spent the day looking at other options whether to pull her out of this school, put her in a home program, or put her in one of the Christian academies around here,” said Linnette Jones’ mother.

If Clayton County meets the SACS mandates by spring, this year’s seniors could still graduate with an accredited diploma.

Because of legislation passed earlier this year by the governor, both juniors and seniors would be able to hold on to HOPE scholarships.