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Des Moines schools to be re-audited after superintendent’s arrest
The state auditor’s office will conduct a re-audit of the Des Moines public school district following the arrest of its superintendent.
Ian Roberts was hired to be the district’s superintendent in July 2023. A federal judge issued a deportation order for the Guyana native in early 2024, and immigration agents arrested Roberts last month. The Des Moines School Board and its interim superintendent filed the request for the audit today, a few hours after State Auditor Rob Sand held a news conference, saying he would welcome a request from someone within the district for an investigation.
“As state auditor, I think that more review at Des Moines public schools around Ian Roberts’ work is important,” Sand said.
The Associated Press has reported that shortly after Roberts was hired, he tried to get the company that sold his books and promoted him as a motivational speaker hired to do cultural training in the district, but the school board cited conflict of interest concerns and rejected the contract.
“We’ve seen this public report of the fact that he tried to have emergency approval of a contract to a firm that he was tied to,” Sand said. “That right there makes any auditor go, ‘Boy, we’d better look at each piece of that spending.'”
Sand told reporters there’s no way to say how quickly the CPAs in his office will complete the review or how broad the examination will be. “This is one of those things where you go where the audit or the investigation leads you,” Sand said. “…There are important questions that need answering.”
Sand is a Democrat who’s running for governor, and last week, three Republicans in the state senate asked Sand to investigate the district. Republican Senator Jesse Greene of Boone rejected Sand’s contention that he needed a request from someone within the school district for the re-audit. Greene said Sand “can hold as many press conferences as he wants,” but Greene said Sand “spent more time arguing with our call for an investigation” than focusing on his duties as state auditor.
