Since 2006, Pro Se Nathaniel Borrell Dyer has consistently attended and participated in public comment at Atlanta Independent School System (AISS) Board meetings. Mr. Dyer has a longstanding reputation for advocating for children, who are predominantly Black, in economically challenged neighborhoods of Atlanta, Georgia. Over the past 14 years, Mr. Dyer has garnered support from the community, as well as AISS employees.

He has been successful in advocating on behalf of AISS educators, bus drivers and custodial workers. As a result of his tireless activism, Mr. Dyer had the honor of being endorsed by the Atlanta Association of Educators (AAE) and their parent organization the National Association of Educators (NEA) in his bid for AISS School Board in 2017. Mr. Dyer’s mother, who is a retired educator of 33 years, was also a longtime member of her local teacher’s union and the NEA.

Mr. Dyer, who is a graphic artist, has been creating and distributing satirical flyers critical of AISS policies since 2009. Before the board meetings, he ensures that each board member receives a copy of the flyer. Mr. Dyer’s first flyer depicted AISS Interim Superintendent Erroll Davis, an African American man, donning a Ku Klux Klan robe. This flyer made national news as it protested Davis’ policy to close 13 schools in low-income communities on the south side of Atlanta which were predominately Black.

AISS, who is no stranger to wrongdoing, was involved in what is rivaled to be the worst school cheating scandal in U.S. history. According to an 800 page Investigative Report, “A culture of fear and a conspiracy of silence infected this school system, and kept many teachers from speaking freely about misconduct.” The report stated, “From the onset of this investigation, we were confronted by a pattern of interference by top APS leadership in our attempt to gather evidence.” Mr. Dyer is completely aware of the tactics AISS uses on those they wish to silence. For example, Mr. Dyer has been falsely accused of fighting a student; he was instructed not to raise his hand to ask questions in meetings; was forcefully removed from meetings just for being in attendance, and was labeled a pedophile by AISS. To prove Mr. Dyer’s case even further, the character assassination tactics of AISS can be seen by this statement, “as AISS had a substantial government interest in “preserving meeting decorum” and the suspensions were necessary because Mr. Dyer continued to disrupt meetings when he was on school property, regardless of whether he was able to speak or enter the meeting room.”

On February 8, 2018, Mr. Dyer was attending a community meeting at Perkinson Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia. During the meeting, AISS Chief Ronald Applin arrived and told Mr. Dyer that he was not allowed on the campus. When Mr. Dyer asked for an explanation, Applin callously dropped a stack of papers in his lap which included the letters that served as trespass warnings. One letter referenced the February 5, 2018 AISS board meeting where Mr. Dyer distributed a satirical flyer. The letter read in part, “You once again introduced racist and hate-filled epithets at an ABOE meeting. Specifically, you passed out flyers to audience members that contained the phrase “unnigged coming soon” and that contained a picture of Superintendent Carstarphen wearing a photoshopped football jersey with the name “FALCOONS” on it. (Exhibit C – February 5, 2018 Flyer). These insulting references are completely outside the bounds of civility and, as before, were offensive to the Board, our Superintendent, and our staff and community. These references fail to advance
any meaningful discourse upon which the Board or Superintendent could possibly act. We cannot and will not allow such abhorrent and hate-filled behavior in a meeting of an organization whose sole purpose is to educate children.”

This letter of trespass represented the third suspension delivered to Mr. Dyer with no opportunity to contest the ban.