A yr into his tenure as superintendent of Iowa’s largest college district, former Olympian Ian Roberts made headlines when – in a maroon three-piece go well with, sweet cane striped bow tie and matching Nike Air Force 1 sneakers – he ran a 100-meter sprint in opposition to some of his elementary college college students.
An 11-year-old crossed the end line a couple of steps forward of Roberts, who represented Guyana in the 800 meters in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, NCS affiliate KCCI reported.
It was a small however unforgettable lesson.
“I raced an Olympian,” fifth grader Amayah Vilmael, a scholar athlete whose dad and mom are from Nigeria and Haiti, mentioned after the May 2024 race, in accordance with KCCI. “I’m going to keep that in my mind forever.”
Roberts mentioned, “The work we do is so much more than reading, writing and math.”
On Friday, the fashionable superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools once more made headlines after he was detained by immigration officers, in accordance with the Department of Homeland Security, which claims he’s in the nation illegally and has weapon possession expenses.
For Roberts’ colleagues, the greater than 30,000 college students he oversaw and their dad and mom, the episode provided one other unforgettable lesson: An in depth-up have a look at the Trump administration’s unrelenting crackdown on immigration – which has seen raids on workplaces and arrests of community pillars equivalent to a firefighter, a journalist and a pastor.
His arrest got here one month into the college yr, shook the neighborhood and spurred a protest outdoors the federal courthouse in Des Moines. “Education, not deportation / Free Dr. Roberts,” learn an indication carried by a demonstrator, in accordance with KCCI footage. Local training and immigration advocacy teams have rallied behind the superintendent.
Alfredo Parrish, an lawyer in Des Moines, informed NCS he spoke with Roberts – who was being held at a county jail in Sioux City, Iowa – by cellphone on Saturday morning.
“He sounded good. We had a good conversation,” mentioned Parrish, whose agency is representing the superintendent. Parrish declined additional remark, saying he wanted “an opportunity to review all the documents” associated to the case.
The Des Moines School Board scheduled a particular closed-session assembly on Saturday to debate the arrest and Roberts’ standing with the district.
Roberts’ lengthy profession as an educator included positions in New York City; Baltimore; Washington, DC; St. Louis; Oakland, California; and Erie, Pennsylvania, in accordance with his LinkedIn profile.
“My career chose me,” he mentioned in an interview with Coppin State University “Alumni Stories.”
“I believe that I was divinely guided to this career, to educate, inspire, motivate and serve as a champion for children, particularly children who are marginalized by our K-12 education system, and to inspire the adults who serve them daily.”
He was named Des Moines Public Schools superintendent in 2023, in accordance with the district’s web site. Roberts was “born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn,” New York, the web site mentioned.
His rise from particular training instructor to principal to administrator resonated with many in a rustic the place, in 2021, almost one-fourth – or 11 million – of its public college college students had been youngsters of immigrants, in accordance with the Center for Immigration Studies.
“I just think it’s really important that we take care of one another, and we seem to be at a spot where that’s not what’s happening,” Mary Pat LaMair, a district instructor who was amongst the crowd protesting Roberts’ arrest on Friday informed KCCI.
“It’s important for people to know that the general public, I think, is not OK with what’s happening,” she added.
Last month, in saying a partnership between Des Moines Public Schools and Des Moines Public Library that allowed the college IDs of center and highschool college students to operate as a library card, Roberts spoke about how his first library card modified his life.
“My mom couldn’t get me to leave the bedroom once I was able to borrow three, four or five books,” he informed DMPS-TV, the college district’s tv channel.
Roberts entered the US on a scholar visa in 1999, in accordance with DHS.
He graduated with a bachelor’s diploma from Coppin State University in Maryland, in accordance with his bio on the district website. At Coppin, the place he was inducted this yr to the sports activities corridor of fame, Roberts was the college’s first men’s NCAA all-American in any sport. He was additionally the college’s first Olympic athlete.
Roberts later obtained grasp’s levels from St. John’s University in New York and Georgetown University in Washington, in accordance with his bio on the district website. He is married and enjoys searching.
Roberts had current weapon expenses from 2020 and was given a closing order of removing by an immigration choose in May 2024, in accordance with DHS.
The college district and DHS introduced starkly divergent portraits of Roberts.
DHS described him as a “criminal alien” and recommended he was a public security risk. But at a information convention after his arrest, board president of Des Moines Public Schools Jackie Norris mentioned the superintendent was “an integral part of our school community” who “has shown up in ways big and small” for college students and employees.
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners issued Roberts a license to function superintendent in the state in July 2023, in accordance with Norris.
Roberts disclosed his weapon cost, associated to a searching rifle, when he was employed, a district spokesperson informed NCS.
The superintendent was arrested as half of a “targeted enforcement operation” and fled after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers approached him, in accordance with statements from DHS and the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
DHS mentioned he was “in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife” at the time of his arrest. It’s a violation of federal legislation to personal a firearm and ammunition if a person doesn’t have authorized standing in the US.
Another administrator, Matt Smith, has taken the function of interim superintendent in the meantime, in accordance with a message posted on social media by the district earlier.
A longtime licensed gun proprietor and hunter
Des Moines Public Schools mentioned it was unaware of the order of removing however Roberts did inform the college board of a firearms offense associated to a searching rifle throughout his hiring course of. The district mentioned in a press release Roberts “provided sufficient context and explanation of the situation to move forward in the hiring process.”
Public information present Roberts pleaded responsible to a weapon cost in Pennsylvania in 2022. NCS has been unable to confirm whether or not Roberts has a separate cost from 2020.
In a 2022 Instagram post, Roberts wrote he was given a quotation by a state sport warden for having a loaded weapon in his automobile. He mentioned he is a longtime licensed gun proprietor and hunter. Roberts, who was in the woods searching that day, mentioned he positioned his searching rifle in the backseat of his automobile to make sure the warden “did not feel unsafe or threatened in any way.”
“I may not appear to be the ‘type of man’ who would enjoy deer season in Pennsylvania, in fact, I am and have been hunting for more than 20 years,” Roberts wrote.
Roberts wrote he by no means supposed to go away a loaded weapon in his automobile however was approached by the warden earlier than he had the likelihood to unload it and place it in a lockbox. He added he stays “confident in my decision not to unload a rifle in the presence of a law enforcement officer.”
The district mentioned Roberts submitted an employment eligibility verification kind and an I-9 as half of the hiring course of.
“The district has not been formally notified by ICE about this matter, nor have we been able to talk with Dr. Roberts since his detention,” district spokesperson Phil Roeder mentioned.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson mentioned in a press release Roberts’ arrest must be a “wake-up call for our communities to the great work that our officers are doing every day to remove public safety threats.”
The company’s on-line detainee locator system reveals Roberts was born in Guyana and was being held at a county jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and later transferred to Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City.
The Iowa State Education Association and Des Moines Education Association mentioned they had been shocked by Roberts’ detention and described the administrator as a “tremendous advocate” in a press release, KCCI reported.
“His leadership and compassion for all students, regardless of background, identity, or family origin, are a beacon of light in one of the state’s most diverse school districts,” the assertion reads, in accordance with KCCI.
“It is a dark and unsettling time in our country. This incident has created tremendous fear for DMPS students, families, and staff.”
Roberts, in his interview with the Coppin State on-line alumni publication, spoke about his dad and mom, who migrated from Guyana – his father in the Eighties, his mom in the early 2000s – in search of higher alternatives.
“The way that my mother has lived her life with a strong spiritual foundation, unbelievable work-ethic, humility, and an inclination for community activism, served and continues to be an inspiration to me,” he mentioned.
Roberts added, “One day I hope to return to my birthplace of Guyana, South America as a public servant.”