Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — 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 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.
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.
Sand says there’s no way to say how quickly the CPAs in his office will complete the review or how broad the examination will be.
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 rejects Sand’s contention that he needed a request from someone within the school district for the re-audit. Greene says Sand can hold as many press conferences as he wants, but Greene says Sand spent more time arguing with our call for an investigation than focusing on his duties as state auditor.
