Loss of Accreditation Rocks Georgia District

In the end, six months of management reforms and the hiring of an experienced urban superintendent failed to keep the Clayton County, Ga., school district from becoming the nation’s first district in nearly four decades to have its accreditation stripped.

Last week’s decision by an accrediting agency—capping nearly a year of investigations involving the Clayton County school board—could complicate everything from students’ college applications to teachers’ continuing education credits.

But the Aug. 28 move also brought swift assurances from state officials that they would work to prevent harm to students from a penalty blamed squarely on members of the suburban Atlanta...