Federal judge sides with Denver school leader after alleged censorship
A federal judge ruled in favor of a Denver school leader who says the district was trying to silence him.
Since it opened, Brandon Pryor has been pushing for better conditions at Robert F. Smith STEAM Academy. The more he says the district brushed him off, the more frustrated Pryor grew for his students of color.
Pryor attended school board meetings and made several attempts to speak with district leaders. He eventually took to social media to share his disappointment with DPS.
"As an employee inside of a public institution, I have every right to be critical of their performance," said Pryor. "It's not my job to provide comfort for these people who are oppressing our kids."
Over several months, he made social media posts calling on district leaders to resign, sometimes calling them "racists" and "sellouts."
DPS described his tone as threatening. Pryor says his tone matches the pain and hurt inflicted on his school's community.
"I haven't threatened to harm anybody. The only thing that I've said is if you continue to do our kids and community this way, we will see to it that you won't have a job in this district. "
In October the district banned Pryor for "repeated abusive, bullying, threatening and intimidating conduct."
The district also claims Pryor made a regional superintendent "no longer feel safe in her office space."
Pryor watched from across the street as students protested the decision shortly after.
"When you can silence somebody and do this broad sweeping action by banning somebody from the entire district for speaking truth to power, that's going to scare people from speaking the truth," said Pryor.
Pryor sued the district for violating his right to free speech.
DPS argued they are responsible for maintaining a safe work environment, but the court says that doesn't outweigh his constitutional right to free speech.
The judge sided with Pryor and ordered the district to lift the ban. The judge found that Pryor is likely to succeed on the merits of his First Amendment retaliation claim against DPS.
"Somebody has to do it and if it has to be me, then I'll be the one. If people don't like me because of that, then I accept that. I'm here for these kids and these kids only," said Pryor. "I don't regret anything I've ever posted. Everything that I post is about the kids."
Court records show DPS has appealed the ruling.
Pryor says this fight is far from over.
"I think it's more of an ego thing. DPS doesn't want to lose in court to Brandon Pryor, so they're gonna fight tooth and nail against the ruling," said Pryor.
DPS says they will not be providing additional comment at this time.