Des Moines school board puts Superintendent Ian Roberts on unpaid leave

Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ian Andre Roberts was part of the group welcoming students and families to their first day of preschool at Mitchell Early Learning Center in Des Moines on Sept. 6, 2025. (Photo courtesy Jon Lemons/Des Moines Public Schools)

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
September 29, 2025

The Des Moines School Board put Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts, who was detained last week by federal immigration authorities, on unpaid administrative leave Monday following the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners’ move to revoke his state license.

A news release published Monday from the Des Moines Public Schools district said the action to place Roberts on unpaid leave after this decision is required by law following the BOEE decision on Sunday revoking his license.

The school board meeting is one of the latest actions in response to Roberts’ detainment by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. According to ICE officials, Roberts was approached by ICE agents in his vehicle during a “targeted enforcement operation” Friday. The agency reported Roberts was found in possession of a handgun, a hunting knife and $3,000 in cash. He then allegedly attempted to evade arrest, the ICE press release stated, and Iowa State Patrol officers assisted the federal agents in locating Roberts after his vehicle was found abandoned.

The school board met for a special session Monday, heading to a closed session shortly after convening. After returning, school board president Jackie Norris read a statement saying at 2:15 p.m. Monday, the school district received a document from U.S. Department of Homeland Security notifying them that Roberts was an unauthorized worker, and at 3:45 p.m. received a copy of the final order of removal issued by the U.S. Department of Justice and signed by an immigration judge.

“This latest news means that at this time, unless we receive (new) material information tomorrow at noon demonstrating that Dr. Roberts is eligible to work, our board will commence the process required by Iowa Code Chapter 279 to end the contract with the superintendent,” Norris said.

Roberts was given a “final order of removal by an immigration judge” in May 2024, according to ICE, after he had come to the U.S. in 1999 on a student visa.

Norris said in a news conference Monday that the school board “cannot confirm how the Board of Educational Examiners made their decision,” but that DMPS has asked for documentation about how the state board reached the decision to remove his license. She also emphasized the school board has given time for Roberts’ legal team to respond.

“It is very important for us to take a moment and make sure that we have the basis for any decision we made,” Norris said. “So we have asked Dr. Roberts’ attorney, by tomorrow at noon, to provide a set of documents, including the information to verify his citizenship status.”

There have been several questions about DMPS’ vetting process for Roberts. Officials with the school district have said they were unaware of the 2024 removal order or that Roberts may have misrepresented himself as a U.S. citizen, though Norris said the district has not yet been able to independently verify much of the new information shared following his arrest.

School officials have confirmed Roberts completed the I-9 employment eligibility verification form and submitted the required documentation showing he was eligible for employment with the district when hired. In a news release, officials also highlighted that Roberts’ license had been approved by the BOEE in July 2023 and that he had worked in education leadership positions in other U.S. states, including in California, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, for more than 20 years.

At the Saturday board meeting, DMPS associate superintendent Matt Smith was appointed to serve as interim superintendent. On Sunday, Smith sent a letter addressed to families in the school district acknowledging the “difficult time” parents, educators and students in Des Moines schools are facing following the arrest and detention of Roberts. Smith said he was working with Norris, members of the DMPS executive cabinet and school leaders over the weekend to “to process and distribute factual information as it becomes available to us.”

“What we cannot lose focus on is our children,” Smith wrote. “Communities show their identity in times of crisis and the way we respond will make a difference in the lives of the children we love and serve. We all have strong feelings about what we are experiencing, and healthy expression of those feelings is appropriate. But we must remember to move with empathy and self-regulation and know that our children are watching.”

Iowa-Nebraska NAACP members visited Roberts Saturday, who is being held at the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City. In a news release posted on social media Sunday, the organization said Roberts “expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support from individuals and organizations nationwide and reaffirmed his commitment to education and ensuring students thrive.”

But others have criticized Des Moines school officials for hiring Roberts, who ICE alleged was arrested on a gun charge in Feb. 5, 2020. DMPS officials said they were informed of a firearms offense in 2022 and that Roberts had pleaded guilty to a charge related to having a loaded weapon in his vehicle while hunting. District officials said they were not informed of any other offenses.

Norris said the school board contracted with a search firm in hiring Roberts, which was “given a set of parameters for what we’re looking for in a superintendent.”

“They go out and they provide a list of candidates to us, we go through the interview process, and then they in turn work with third parties to do all of the vetting — and I think the vetting includes a criminal background check and other other checks — and then they come back with a recommendation for us,” Norris said. “And so we are operating on the information that was given to us, and there was nothing in the information that was given to us to allude to any question about his citizenship.”

The situation has drawn national attention and political fallout.

Samantha Cantrell, regional press secretary for the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm the National Republican Senate Committee criticized Norris, who is running for U.S. Senate in 2026, for hiring “an illegal alien with a rap sheet to be her Superintendent and work with children.”

“Jackie Norris has put every single Des Moines student and family in danger,” Cantrell said in a statement Friday. “Democrats will stop at nothing to protect criminal illegal aliens.”

Norris gave a statement on behalf of the school board Saturday saying she wanted to be clear “about one fact that cannot be ignored: of course, the school district ensured that a background check was conducted before hiring Dr. Roberts. That is done for every person who is hired by the district and periodic reviews are conducted on a regular basis for all current employees.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com.