Atlanta , Georgia ( CNN ) -- Atlanta 's public school system was told Tuesday it has until September 30 to make progress on a series of recommendations or risk its high schools ' losing their accreditation , a fate that would affect the college hopes of many of the system 's graduates . The probation placed on the system 's high schools stems from complaints that conflicts between members had severely hampered the school board 's ability to govern effectively , according to a statement from AdvancEd , the world 's largest school accrediting agency and the parent company of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . `` This is designed to improve the school system , '' Mark Elgart , president and CEO of AdvancED , said at a news conference Tuesday . `` The ( school ) board and the system have a choice here : They can choose to proactively take actions designed to improve it , building on these actions we have outlined , or they can fight it . '' Members of Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education met in a special session Tuesday afternoon to review the report , and will vote next week to formally accept it , the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported . Elgart will be at next week 's meeting to answer board members ' questions , the newspaper said . The action is a `` grave moment in our history , but one that we must resolve , '' board member Reuben McDaniel told CNN affiliate WXIA . AdvancED conducted a special review looking into -- among other things -- a leadership shakeup initiated by the school board last summer . The board changed its policy to allow a simple majority vote to change the chair and vice chair positions , despite outside legal advice that such a policy change would be illegal . Ultimately , a lawsuit was filed challenging the move . CNN education contributor Steve Perry asks how Atlanta schools ' cheating scandal could affect students . The special review also found that the board circumvented its own procurement policies in approving a contract for a communications vendor , and that the `` fallout '' from the friction on the board had become a distraction to staff . According to AdvancED , the steps the school system must take to show progress include : developing a plan to effectively communicate is mission to staff and other `` stakeholders ; '' hiring a trained mediator to work with board members to resolve issues ; ensuring that board policies -- `` especially those related to ethics and chain of command '' -- are understood and followed ; and coming up with a plan for selecting a superintendent that `` demonstrates integrity throughout the process . '' Atlanta Public Schools , which has 47,000 students , is the second large school system to have schools placed on probation , and the second in the metro area , according to Jennifer Oliver , vice president for communications for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . Schools in Clayton County , south of Atlanta , lost their accreditation in 2008 and are approaching the end of a two-year probation . In an e-mail response to a question from CNN , Oliver cautioned that Atlanta 's public high schools `` are still accredited , and it 's too early to speculate on about whether ( the schools ) will lose their accreditation . '' However , she said , a loss of accreditation could mean that `` graduating seniors may be limited in scholarships and college admissions if a program requires students to come from an accredited institution and/or uses accreditation of the high school as part of the criteria for evaluating students . '' The school system , which had won national awards for closing academic gaps in recent years , was rocked last year by allegations of cheating on standardized tests given to elementary and middle school students . An independent commission found that employees at 12 schools had violated testing protocols , the Journal-Constitution reported in June 2010 . Because AdvancED only accredits Atlanta 's public high schools , it is n't involved in the test-cheating investigation . `` However , '' Oliver said , `` how the board addresses the results of the investigation as leaders of the school system will be of interest to ( AdvancED ) in regards to the Accreditation Standard of Governance and Leadership , which they are currently not meeting . '' CNN 's Cameron Tankersley contributed to this report .
Accrediting agency on Tuesday announced probationary status for Atlanta public high schools . AdvancED : System has till September 30 to show progress on recommendations . School board decisions and friction between members are at the core of complaints .