Des Moines school board suing search firm that found ex-Superintendent Ian Roberts

[dalton99a]

Last edited Fri Oct 3, 2025, 06:02 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2025/10/03/dmps-board-plans-lawsuit-search-firm-superintendent-ian-roberts/86485502007/

DMPS board suing search firm that found ex-Superintendent Ian Roberts
By Samantha Hernandez

The Des Moines School Board plans to move forward with a lawsuit against JG Consulting, the superintendent search firm that helped the district find and vet potential candidates and chose its now former Superintendent Ian Roberts.

Roberts, a native of Guyana, was hired by the school board in 2023 after the firm conducted a closed, nationwide search to replace former Superintendent Tom Ahart. He was much revered as the first person of color to lead the state's largest and most diverse school district.

But since his arrest by immigration officials Sept. 26, Roberts' background and DMPS hiring practices have come under scrutiny. Roberts was not authorized to work in the U.S. when he was hired; a federal complaint filed against him Thursday said he hasn't been allowed to work in the country since 2020.

Des Moines Register reviews also have found Roberts did not earn the doctorate Morgan State he frequently claimed he received and other alcolades listed on his resume were false.

The board paid $41,000 to JG Consulting for its work.

“The firm failed its duty to properly vet candidates," DMPS board chair Jackie Norris said at the meeting. "Ian Roberts should have never been presented as a finalist. If we knew what we knew now, he would have never been hired.”

Des Moines Public Schools is requesting a jury trial with damages for reputational harm, superintendent pay and costs related to additional hiring processes in an amount to be determined at trial. The district is represented by Ahlers & Cooney, P.C.

...


https://www.kcci.com/article/ian-roberts-resume-cover-letter-des-moines-superintendent-job/68815145

See full cover letter, resume Ian Roberts provided in application for Des Moines superintendent

[MichMan]

1. Who was responsible for verifying his legal status before hiring him?

According to the consulting firm doing the vetting, they don't check immigration status.

Several publicly available documents, including court documents, were sent to JG Consulting, along with an executive summary, Baker-Eubanks CEO Kim Cockerham said.

"We do not render an opinion on whether someone should be hired," said Cockerham in an interview with the Des Moines Register. "We give the report as we're hired to do. We reveal any criminal records that we find."

The criminal background check does not include confirming whether someone can legally work in the United States.

"That's not even a service that we offer," Cockerham said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/conducted-background-check-des-moines-123725292.html

The school board was told by the vetting firm that his resume wasn't accurate, but decided to let him revise it, and hired him anyway. That should have been a huge red flag.

Ian Roberts, who immigration authorities say was living and working in the U.S. illegally and who resigned this week as Des Moines’ superintendent of schools, claimed in his 2023 application that he received a doctorate in urban educational leadership from Morgan State University in 2007, according to documents The Associated Press obtained through a public records request.

Although Roberts was enrolled in that doctorate program from 2002 to 2007, the school’s public relations office confirmed in an email that he didn’t receive that degree. It declined to say which degree requirements he hadn’t met.

The Des Moines school board learned before hiring Roberts that he hadn’t received the degree, but it still chose him to lead the district, which serves about 30,000 students.

“As part of the background check process that was done at the time, it indicated that he did not complete -- he began but did not complete a degree from Morgan State,” district spokesman Phil Roeder told the AP.

https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/des-moines-public-schools-hired-superintendent-despite-false-doctorate-claim-on-his-resume

[dsc]

2. The bigger problem is the lack of a Phd

that has to literally fall in the job description of checking the backround of a person for an education position.

[MichMan]

4. Apparently, he has one from Trident University International, a private online college

I haven't seen any confirmation from Trident. The wiki link does have him listed as an alumni.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trident_University_International

[dalton99a]

6. He bought himself a bullshit online doctorate after he got the job

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

3. +1. They could have asked the Associated Press to do it for free

[BannonsLiver]

5. As well they should. The guy is a total fraud.