This Iowa School Scandal?

 Well....this gets interesting.

The "Iowa school scandal" started up a week or so ago....centers on the arrest of Ian Andre Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS)....which is a major metro school district.....over 30,000 students. 

Back on 26 September 2025, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Roberts, accusing him of being an undocumented immigrant from Guyana who overstayed his student visa, evaded authorities, and possessed illegal weapons (3 serious charges). 

The case has three ingredients: immigration enforcement, poor school hiring practices, and loss of public trust in education leadership.

Vetting problem?  The board went and  hired a private company to vet candidates....this guy passed through their system....no issues.

Who was this guy?  Born in Guyana to immigrant parents.  He apparently represented his home country as a track and field athlete at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and competed in World Championships. 

He had entered the U.S. in 1999 on an F-1 student visa to attend St. John's University. He built a career in education, working in four states and earning degrees from institutions like Georgetown and Harvard (I'll just say 'proof' of the degrees.....is in question now). 

He served as DMPS interim superintendent in 2022–23 before becoming permanent in July 2023, with a salary of about $270,000 plus benefits totaling over $300,000 annually. In August 2024, he received a 3.5-percent raise despite an impending deportation order.

This deportation hearing?  Back on 22 May 2024....it occurred.  Far as I can see.....the Board never knew of this.

Oddly enough....on his Iowa administrator license application in 2023, Roberts affirmed U.S. citizenship under penalty of perjury, passing standard FBI and state criminal background checks at the time.  Yes....even the FBI gave him a thumbs up.

What'll happen now?  I'll suggest five things:

1.  This company that vetted the guy....will be dragged into some kind of Iowa-investigation and probably a US-federal-investigation.  Who else did they vet incorrectly?

2.  The Iowa authorities are hinting that there's to be a investigation/audit....of the school, and board.

3.  Within a week....I expect at least two of the school board members to quit....saying 'too much pressure'.

4.  Some authority will probably go and check out every person that the guy hired over two years.....probably expecting to find another problem or two.

5.  I think locally....there's likely to be a call for the entire remaining board to be dismissed, and a new election.  

6.  Finally, I suspect the FBI to circle back around and ask....how they failed, and this might be the most interesting part of the whole story.