October 7, 2025
Des Moines faculty officers are suing the consulting firm, JG Consulting, that assisted in deciding on Roberts as their candidate for the job, however state leaders really feel it isn’t their fault.
The drama continues within the case towards disgraced Iowa Superintendent Ian Roberts, as the varsity district has filed a lawsuit towards the corporate that vetted him, following the emergence of extra particulars about his prison previous, in line with the Related Press.
Des Moines faculty officers are suing the consulting firm, JG Consulting, which assisted in deciding on Roberts as a candidate for the job of overseeing the state’s largest faculty district, for which he was employed in 2023. As a part of the method, Roberts needed to bear a background test and disclose if he was ever charged with a misdemeanor, felony, or main site visitors violation — together with driving underneath the affect.
Whereas it isn’t clear how Roberts responded to the questions, public information reveal his prolonged rap sheet consists of expenses reminiscent of drug possession and intent to promote in 1996 and weapons expenses in 2020 and 2022, pleading responsible to the 2020 expenses. Roberts’ lawyer, Brandon Brown, highlighted how expenses don’t equate to convictions, as his 2020 deal was listed as a minor infraction for unlawfully carrying a loaded looking rifle in a car, which the district was conscious of earlier than his hiring.
Brown known as the officers’ plan of reissuing info a “fear-mongering” marketing campaign.
Roberts made headlines late September 2025 when he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers underneath suspicion of being within the nation illegally. After fleeing from a site visitors cease, federal brokers claimed the Guyana native entered the U.S. in 1999 on a scholar visa and was given a ultimate order of elimination by a decide in Could of 2024.
After garnering nationwide consideration, college students of the Iowa district have staged protests by strolling out of their school rooms. Group members have raised inquiries to Roberts’ authorized staff, as a number of have described the district chief as a vibrant man who helped brighten up colleges and was completely engaged with college students and employees.
Nonetheless, district leaders declare to be “a sufferer of deception” as a result of Roberts’ alleged mendacity all through his tenure.
The timing of Roberts’ detainment comes at a time of unrest throughout the nation, as ICE brokers have been seen detaining suspected unlawful immigrants underneath the path of the Secretary of Homeland Safety and MAGA loyalist Kristi Noem. His arrest marked a gap for state leaders like Iowa’s Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley to push laws that might help with background checks.
In accordance with the Des Moines Register, Grassley is pushing for Des Moines Public Faculties to implement an E-Confirm system, aligning with a story from the Division of Homeland Safety. In an announcement, the company states that if an E-Confirm case utilizing an “expired Employment Authorization Doc (EAD)” had been open, Roberts’ background test would have “resulted in a nonconfirmation.” The senator pointed the finger on the faculty district for letting the problem fly over their heads. “Each duty underneath the legislation has all the time been the duty of an employer to make it possible for they don’t rent any person illegally into the nation,” Grassley stated.
Below state legislation, Iowa doesn’t require employers to make use of E-Confirm to find out if somebody can legally work within the U.S. or not.
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