DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The DeKalb County School Board is meeting Thursday after teachers objected to what they call questionable language in their contracts.
This prompted DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris to apologize for what's in the contracts at a meeting this week.
“It's like running into a stop sign that wasn't there before. You look up, there's a stop sign, and you're almost through the stop sign when you see it," Deborah Jones said.
That's how Deborah Jones, president of Organization of DeKalb Educators, describes teachers' reactions to seeing what's in their contracts.
“This information is old and antiquated," Jones said. "It’s years old, and it's not new language, the language itself is not new. I think it was just in their face, you know?"
The contract includes 10 performance expectations.
“The most concerning thing was the ability not to, in other words, pay attention to the sights and sounds around you," Jones said. "What happens if a gunman comes into the building, and you're asking the teachers just to continue to teach and not pay attention?”
Another performance expectation is to "seldom be absent from work."
“I think that needs to be changed to do the best that you can to be here every day, but to think that people are not going to be out of work," Jones said. "It makes no sense to me.”
Jones said the school district told her they plan to look into her concerns.
“You want people to understand that you care about them, and I think that's one thing that is lacking in DeKalb," Jones said.
The superintendent's office said she's not available for comment.