JONESBORO, Ga. – A Georgia school district lost its accreditation Thursday, an unusual move blamed in part on what has been called a “dysfunctional” school board.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools head Mark Elgart said the Clayton County school district met only one of nine mandates laid out in a scathing February report.

The report called Clayton County's school board “dysfunctional” and “fatally flawed.” It gave the district until Sept. 1 to overhaul the system.

A team from the association visited last week to review whether the 50,000-student school district had done enough to keep its accreditation and decided it had not.

Clayton County Superintendent John Thompson said the district did its best to prove it was fixing its problems and will appeal the ruling within the required 10 days.

Meanwhile, Gov. Sonny Perdue issued an executive order Thursday ousting four board members after a judge recommended removing them for violating Georgia's open meetings laws and ethics code.

Losing accreditation means students who graduate from the suburban Atlanta district won't be eligible for some scholarships or admission to many colleges. It also could drive down property values in the county and hurt economic development, community leaders have said.