Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes openness and transparency in Iowa’s state and local governments. He can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com. This essay first appeared on his Substack newsletter, Stray Thoughts. 

The lesson of the hot stove emerged again last week.

That is the lesson toddlers learn early and smart ones retain for a lifetime. Touch something hot and you know not to touch it again.

Educator Ian Roberts delivered a new rendition of the lesson over the past fortnight. Time will tell whether government officials take to heart the learning moment offered by the Roberts train wreck.

A text poll in the field this week is probing whether the recent arrest of Superintendent Ian Roberts is a “convincing” argument against a bond issue that is a priority for the Des Moines Public Schools.

Voters in the Des Moines school district will decide on November 4 whether to approve a $265 million, 20-year general obligation bond to finance the Reimagining Education, Reinvigorating Schools initiative. The referendum needs at least a 60 percent “yes” vote to pass; the district hopes to expand or remodel all of the Des Moines high schools and nearly a dozen middle or elementary schools.

The survey tests two messages against the bond referendum and two supporting it, with a ballot test before and after respondents read the arguments. I enclose below the full questionnaire, drawn from screenshots shared by those who took the “Des Moines Schools Survey.”

Representatives of Yes for Des Moines Schools, a political committee formed this summer to support the bond issue, did not respond to Facebook or email messages seeking to confirm whether the group commissioned the poll. But the results could provide valuable information to that organization, which had raised $105,000 by mid-July, according to a campaign finance disclosure.

Jason Benell lives in Des Moines with his wife and two children. He is a combat veteran, former city council candidate, and president of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers. This essay first appeared on his Substack newsletter, The Odd Man Out.

If you care about due process, and if you care about the rule of law, and if you care about justice, then everything surrounding the arrest of Dr. Ian Roberts, former superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS), should infuriate you.

This whole event has been awful for everyone involved, from students who looked up to him, parents who trusted him, and administrators who appointed him. But something is being missed in this discussion: the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agency should be abolished—but if it’s going to be around, it absolutely shouldn’t ever operate this way. Its actions make us less safe, not safer.

Instead of only focusing on Roberts’ purported misdeeds, we should be asking the larger question about what is being taken from our communities. Guess what? It’s more than a trusted school administrator.

Channing Dutton is a lawyer in Urbandale. His duty is climate action for all children.

Meredith Willson gave us a timeless Iowa tale in “The Music Man”: a fast-talking charmer named Professor Harold Hill sweeps into River City, peddling a dream of shiny instruments, crisp uniforms, and the vision of a boys’ band that will keep young people out of trouble.

Not everyone was swayed by his pitch. Do you remember the bumbling school board members assigned to track down his credentials? Every time they got close, Hill got the barber shop quartet to start singing instead of digging up the truth.  

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes openness and transparency in Iowa’s state and local governments. He can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com. 

I spoke to two groups in recent weeks, and at both gatherings, people wanted to know about the work of the organization I lead, the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.

If I had known then what I know now, I could have been more effective. I could have advised them to wait a week or two and watch the news surrounding the arrest of Ian Roberts, superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools since 2023, for an illustration of how secrecy breeds distrust.

Adam Shriver is a concerned resident of Des Moines.

Laura Belin’s been doing an awesome job keeping track of the situation with Dr. Ian Andre Roberts, the former Des Moines Public Schools superintendent who was detained by ICE on September 26 and resigned four days later.

I’ve been seeing a lot of misinformation floating around on right-wing spaces about this, so I thought I’d note a few that need to be corrected.

Former Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf shared multiple false and/or misleading points during a recent Fox News appearance.

Robin Opsahl covers the state legislature and politics for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this article first appeared.

Des Moines Public Schools superintendent Ian Roberts has resigned from his position effective immediately, lawyers representing him said on September 30.

Jenny Turner is a public school mom and a school speech therapist. She lives in West Des Moines.

It might be prudent to wait for all the facts before writing an opinion piece on ICE detaining Dr. Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools. It is true that there is a lot we don’t know. Which leads me to the central question: why don’t we know?

Dr. Roberts has allegedly had a removal order for nearly a year and a half. Why did the district not know about this? Why was Dr. Roberts arrested suddenly, in the most dramatic fashion, for what amounts to late paperwork (if true)? Why was no thought put into the effect this would have on the community and the kids? Why was it not done mindfully to minimize the impact?

UPDATE: On September 29, the Des Moines School Board learned that the Iowa Board of Education Examiners had revoked Roberts’ administrator license, and received from federal authorities a copy of the final order of removal and other documentation indicating that Roberts was not authorized to work in the U.S. The board held another special meeting at which members voted to put Roberts on unpaid leave. They also gave his attorney until noon on September 30 to provide documents supporting his claim to citizenship. Otherwise the school district will start the process of terminating his contract. Original post follows.

Members of the Des Moines School Board voted unanimously on September 27 to place Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts on paid administrative leave, one day after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained him. ICE has said Roberts is unlawfully present in the U.S. and lacks work authorization.

In support of the motion she offered at the special meeting, school board member Kim Martorano said, “While there is still much that we don’t know, what we do know is that Dr. Roberts is currently unavailable to perform his duties as superintendent.” She said Iowa Code Chapter 279 and “standard district practice” called for putting Roberts on paid administrative leave “pending further information. The board may revisit this at any time that we have obtained additional concrete information relevant to Dr. Roberts’ status.”

UPDATE: On September 27, the Des Moines School Board put the superintendent on administrative leave and released more details on the hiring and vetting process. Original post follows.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on September 26 detained Dr. Ian Roberts, the superintendent of Iowa’s largest public school district. The Des Moines Public Schools confirmed Roberts’ detention, saying in a statement from school board President Jackie Norris, “We have no confirmed information as to why Dr. Roberts is being detained or the next potential steps.”

Roberts has served as superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district (with more than 30,000 students) since July 2023. He has presided over efforts to improve student performance and attendance, reduce out-of-school suspensions that can lead to higher drop-out rates, and address food insecurity.

Roberts’ official bio states that he “was born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn” (New York City). As a middle distance runner specializing in the 800 meters, he won several titles at the collegiate level in the U.S. and competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, representing Guyana.

Associate Superintendent Matt Smith has stepped in as interim superintendent, according to a statement from the Des Moines Public Schools (enclosed in full below). I will update this post as more details become available.