Ian Roberts (educator)

Ian Andre Roberts is a retired athlete and former school administrator who was system superintendent for Des Moines Independent Community School District. Roberts ran for Guyana in the 2000 Olympics.

Ian Roberts

Personal information
Born	Georgetown, Guyana[1]
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Achievements and titles
Personal best	800 m: 1:46.85[2]
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Guyana Central American and Caribbean Championships 1999 Bridgetown 800 m

In 2025, Roberts was detained by ICE, who stated that they acted on an order of removal issued in 2024. The Department of Homeland Security further termed him a "criminal alien" and a public safety threat. His detention spurred a protest outside the Des Moines federal courthouse, garnering national and international media attention.^[3]

Early life and education

Roberts was born in Georgetown, Guyana.^[1] His birth year is unclear: there are official documents that he was born in 1970 in Guyana, but he was listed with a 1973 birth date in the 2000 Summer Olympics.^[4] Entering the US on a visitor visa in 1994, he played soccer at Brooklyn's St. Francis College.^[5] He attended Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland, and receiving his bachelor's degree in 1998.^[6][7]

In 2000, Roberts earned a master's degree from St. John's University.^[7] He claimed on his resume and profile that he earned a second master's degree from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, but Georgetown stated that they had no record of his attendance.^{[8][9][10][11]} From 2002 to 2007, he attended a doctoral program at Morgan State University without receiving a degree.^[12][7] Later reporting cast doubt on the veracity of several of his claimed qualifications, including his assertion of attending an executive MBA program at the MIT Sloan School of Management, which was denied by MIT.^[7]

Career

Athletics

As a male middle distance runner from Guyana, Roberts specialized in the 800 metres dash.^[13]

Roberts won his first international medal—a gold in the 800 metres—at the 1999 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics in Bridgetown, Barbados.^[14] His winning time of 1:46:85 was a personal best.^[2] He competed in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, where he won several conference titles and placed seventh in the 800 metres at the NCAA Championships.^[15]

Roberts went on to St. John's University, where he competed in the Big East Conference, winning several championships.^[11][16] He competed in the NCAA finals in 1999.^[17]

After winning conference titles in both Division 1 Conferences, Roberts competed internationally. He competed in the 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, but failed to advance past the quarter-finals. He competed in the outdoor 1999 IAAF World Championships in Seville, Spain, but failed to advance past the quarter-finals.^[18] He competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia,^[19] during which he came in next-to-last place in a preliminary heat.^[20]

Education

In 2012, Roberts was the principal of Anacostia High School, a then-all-Black school in Washington, DC.^[20] From 2018 to 2020, Roberts was Chief Schools Officer for Aspire Public Schools.^[9] From 2020 to 2023, Roberts was the superintendent of the Millcreek Township School District in Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania.^[21]

In July 2023, Roberts became the superintendent of the Des Moines Independent Community School District in Des Moines, Iowa,^[9] a position he held until his resignation on September 30, 2025.^[22] In his application, Roberts falsely claimed that he had earned a doctorate from Morgan State University. During the hiring process, the school board uncovered this misrepresentation but still decided to select him for the position.^[23]

Earlier in the month preceding his September 2025 arrest, Roberts was interviewed about the Reimagining Education initiative, a ballot initiative for a bond measure to fund various program investments in Des Moines Public Schools.^[24]

Legal issues

In January 2022, Roberts pled guilty and paid a fine of $100 and $94.42 in court costs for having had a loaded gun in his vehicle during a Pennsylvania deer-hunting trip the previous month.^[25][26]

On September 26, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that Roberts had been detained in Des Moines, Iowa, and stated that a "final order of removal" had been issued for Roberts's deportation in May 2024. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Roberts fled after identifying himself in a targeted enforcement stop, then abandoned his vehicle. At the time of his arrest, ICE said that he was found in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a fixed-blade hunting knife.^[9][27]

A spokesperson for Roberts's school district told the Associated Press following the arrest that they had no knowledge of a 2024 order of removal, and that Roberts had undergone a comprehensive background check, had completed an I-9, and was authorized to work.^[25] The school district voted to place Roberts on paid administrative leave as he was unable to perform his duties.^[3] Subsequently, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked Roberts's administrative license, which caused the school district to be legally required to place him on unpaid leave retroactive to the original leave decision.^[28] By September 30, 2025, the school district stated that they had received a copy of the order of removal.^[22]

On September 30, 2025, Roberts's attorney filed a request with the federal immigration court in Omaha, Nebraska, asking for his deportation proceedings to be put on hold.^[29] Roberts resigned the same day, saying he did not want to be a distraction to the district's education efforts.^[29]

Also on September 30, 2025, the Des Moines Public School (DPMS) Board chairman read a statement into the public record, indicating that Roberts had provided a driver's license and a social security card as proof of citizenship in his application in 2023. The statement also acknowledged the school board had been contacted by ICE in the time since Roberts's arrest, with ICE notifying the board that Roberts was not eligible to work in the U.S. According to the statement read by the DMPS chairperson, the school board attempted to provide Roberts with an opportunity to clarify the circumstances via a questionnaire, communicated to Roberts's attorney. Roberts did not return the questionnaire and instead submitted a resignation letter, which his attorney conveyed to the DMPS board.^[30]

On October 2, 2025, federal prosecutors filed a felony charge against Roberts of "Illegal alien in possession of firearms" 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5). Roberts was also transferred to federal custody and appeared before a United States magistrate judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.^[31][32]