This story was updated Oct. 7, 2025, at 2:02 p.m.
Des Moines Public Schools is suing the search firm it used to hire former Superintendent Ian Roberts. The district is claiming a background check missed Roberts’ lack of work authorization and past criminal charges. The Des Moines School Board said it's taking legal action after new information surfaced about Roberts’ immigration status and questionable educational credentials.
The school board made the announcement during a special session Friday. The district is claiming negligence and breach of contract by the firm JG Consulting in Georgetown, Texas. Board members said the firm was supposed to do application and resume checks on candidates, and only present qualified candidates to the district. The district’s contract said the firm would hire a third party to do comprehensive criminal, credit and background checks.
DMPS Board Chair Jackie Norris said the board is demanding answers.
“The firm failed its duty to properly vet candidates,” Norris said. “Ian Roberts should never have been presented as a finalist. If we knew what we knew now, he never would have been hired.”
Norris said the board wants accountability for taxpayer dollars.
“The contract required JG Consulting to bring all known information of a positive or negative nature to the board. Because that did not occur, we are pursuing legal action as allowed by law,” Norris said.
The board is seeking damages for reputational harm, and other costs such as superintendent pay and hiring costs for finding a new superintendent.
In a statement, Josh Romero, an attorney for JG Consulting, said Roberts produced the necessary documents to show he was eligible for the position. They also pointed out that previous search firms did not find any discrepancies regarding his immigration status.
“That the district has now decided to litigate about their choice of candidate at this time, when they have had all relevant information since the beginning, is unfortunate and unwarranted,” read the statement. “We will answer any claims brought by the district in court.”
Roberts was authorized to work in the country from December 2018 until December 2020, according to criminal complaint documents unsealed on Thursday. Roberts was hired by DMPS in 2023.
Fact check on Roberts' education background
Roberts’ education has been scrutinized by the public and the media after his high-profile arrest Sept. 26 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the south side of Des Moines.
His education claims are difficult to verify because they are sometimes incomplete or vague. On his public LinkedIn page, Roberts identified seven universities in his education section but does not list any degrees or certificates he might have received.
He was frequently called “Dr. Roberts” by DMPS staff members and the community, but he did not earn a Ph.D. at Morgan State University. A staff member at Morgan State University in Baltimore confirmed to Iowa Public Radio that Roberts attended from fall 2002 to spring 2007. Roberts was pursuing a doctorate in urban educational leadership. However, he did not achieve a degree nor a certificate from Morgan State, the university spokesman said.
The Des Moines School Board hired Roberts with the knowledge that he did not graduate with a doctorate from Morgan State University, according to the school board. Roberts initially claimed the Ph.D. on his resume, but changed it to ABD (all but dissertation) after it was flagged in his background check.
On Roberts' LinkedIn page, he listed that he was an "incoming MBA candidate at MIT Sloan School of Management" from 2019 through 2021, but he never actually enrolled in the program. Sarah McDonnell, a spokeswoman for MIT, told Iowa Public Radio that the MIT Registrar’s Office has no record of enrollment for a person with the name Ian Andre Roberts. Similarly, there is no record of enrollment in the MIT Executive MBA program at the MIT Sloan School of Management, she said.
On Friday, Heather Doe, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Education, said in an email to Iowa Public Radio that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners reviewed official transcripts for all of following institutions before issuing Roberts a license:
- Coppin State University, bachelor of science in criminal justice
- St. John’s University, master’s degree in education
- Georgetown University, master’s degree from the McDonough School of Business
- Morgan State University, no degree cited in transcripts
- Trident University International, doctor of education in education leadership
Doe said that although Iowa’s licensure reciprocity law allows a license to be issued if an applicant provides a similar license from another state (for example, Roberts' Pennsylvania superintendent license), the Board of Educational Examiners "conducts due diligence beyond state law by requesting transcripts at the time of application for all applicants."
Roberts has claimed different degrees and educational achievements online, in press interviews, in his books and in job applications.
Iowa Public Radio contacted all seven universities mentioned on Roberts’ LinkedIn page. Four shared information about him.
Three universities have not shared information, including the private Trident University International, based in Chandler, Ariz., where Roberts’ lawyer Alfredo Parrish said that Roberts received his doctorate.
The other universities that have not provided information to Iowa Public Radio are the Harvard University Graduate School of Education and Georgetown University. Harvard referred Iowa Public Radio to the National Student Clearinghouse.
Coppin State University in West Baltimore, Md., sent Iowa Public Radio a statement saying that Roberts graduated in 1998 and was “a standout scholar and athlete during his undergraduate studies.” The university did not specify what degree Roberts earned and has not responded to a second inquiry from Iowa Public Radio about the exact nature of Roberts’ degree from Coppin State.
Brian T. Browne, spokesman for St. John’s University in New York, said that Roberts received a master’s degree from St. John’s on June 4, 2000. Browne confirmed that Roberts did not receive a doctorate from St. John’s. The degree was a “master of science education/general and special education (grades 7-12).”
In an interview with a Des Moines Business Record reporter in the summer of 2023, just after he started at Des Moines Public Schools, Roberts said he grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. He also said he had received a bachelor’s degree at Coppin State.
“I then went on to earn master’s degrees at St. John’s University in New York, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and also matriculated through doctoral programs at Trident International University, postdoctoral studies and leadership training, with a number of leadership certifications from Harvard University’s School of Education,” Roberts said in the recorded interview.
Roberts was required to provide official college and university transcripts to the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners when he applied for his administrator’s license, according to a screenshot of his application Iowa Public Radio obtained through a public records request. Iowa Public Radio has asked the Iowa Department of Education for more information about which degrees Roberts claimed when applying for a license and which degrees were backed up by official transcripts.
Roberts indicated he was a U.S. citizen on his application to the state. The application shows he also selected “no” when asked if he was ever convicted of any crimes. He also answered “no” to the question “Are you currently under investigation for any form of alleged misconduct by law enforcement or any licensing authority, either in the State of Iowa or in any other jurisdiction?”
Previous employer decries ‘unconscionable’ breach of trust
Millcreek Township School District in Erie, Pa., confirmed in a letter that Roberts had also worked at the district as superintendent. In a statement shared on Oct. 1, the Board of Schools Directors said Roberts claimed he was a U.S. citizen and had earned a doctorate of education, although the statement did not specify from which university.
“The egregious breach of trust that was perpetrated by Roberts, who we hired to lead our schools, is unconscionable,” the school board said in the Oct. 1 letter.
An earlier statement from the Millcreek Township school board said Roberts passed an FBI background check and submitted an I-9 form with supporting documents. The statement also said Roberts received a certification to serve as superintendent by the Pennsylvania Department of Education on July 30, 2020.
Currently, the district’s attorneys are looking into whether the distinct can make any claims against Roberts due to “fraudulent misrepresentations,” and if so, to “aggressively pursue them.”
The latest statement said the board is also actively looking to take legal action against the search firm Ray and Associates Inc., which the district hired to search for and vet candidates. The board said the contract stated the firm would “provide the Board with criminal, civil litigation, social security, motor vehicle record checks and verification of education degrees for the top (2-3) candidates.”
The board said it will consider potential litigation at a board meeting Oct. 6.
Baltimore City Public Schools told Iowa Public radio that Roberts worked at the district from August 2001 to June 2004 as a teacher and from June 2005 until June 2010 as a teacher, resident principal and principal. The district did not confirm whether he worked as a special education coordinator, as listed on his LinkedIn profile.
Iowa Public Radio requested a copy of Roberts’ application materials to Baltimore City Public Schools, but a spokesperson for the district said his employment dates fall outside the district’s records retention requirements.
St. Louis Public Schools also confirmed Roberts worked at the district between 2015 and 2018 as a network superintendent.
NYC Public Schools confirmed Roberts worked as a substitute teacher. Roberts’ LinkedIn profile states he worked as a teacher at NYC Public Schools.
An employee from Aspire Public Schools, where Roberts claimed he worked from June 2018 to January 2020 on his LinkedIn profile, told IPR that Aspire doesn’t release personal records or information about current or former employees without a signed release or a subpoena request.
A spokesperson for District of Columbia Public Schools declined to comment. Roberts’ LinkedIn profile states he worked there from July 2010 to July 2014. A 2010-2011 school profile lists Roberts as the principal of Anacostia High School in the district.
Lighthouse Academies and New Leaders for New Schools, two other employers Roberts listed on his LinkedIn, did not respond to questions from Iowa Public Radio regarding his employment history.
No indication that Roberts voted in Maryland or Iowa
Iowa Public Radio has been unable to corroborate news reports that Roberts, despite allegedly not being a citizen, was registered to vote in Maryland.
On Thursday, the Maryland State Board of Elections administrator sent Iowa Public Radio the following statement:
“It has recently been brought to the attention of SBE that a search for a voter, Ian Andre Roberts, using the public facing Voter Lookup Tool, revealed a voting record for a registered Maryland voter. The Voter Lookup Tool is not an investigative tool but a public application to assist voters to get basic information on their registration and elections. It is designed to help voters vote."
“SBE does not and cannot confirm that the identity of a voter matches that of another voter record in another state, based merely on the public facing information available. Similarly, other states, as in Maryland, public information voter lookups are limited in order to protect personal identifying information (PII) from disclosure. Therefore, SBE cannot and will not publicly announce whether media reports about the individual in question is or is not or was or was not a registered voter in Maryland."
“Voting history is publicly available information in the state of Maryland. That information can be requested from a Public Information Act request. A review of this public information did not show any voting history for any individual with the name Ian Andre Roberts in Maryland.”
The Iowa Secretary of State’s “preliminary review does not show him being a voter or registering to vote in Iowa,” a spokesperson said.
It is illegal for noncitizens to vote or register to vote in the U.S.
