001For those of you that are waiting, we are just waiting for uh something to be printed out and we'll be with you shortly. I'd like to call the meeting back to order. Miss Rios, will you please take the role? >> Yes. Miss Alonso, >> here. >> Miss Compos >> here. >> Mr. Dixs >> here. >> Miss Knox >> here. >> Miss Martana >> here. Dr. Mayberry Mace >> here. Miss Norris >> here. We will begin with a brief board statement. Tonight, we are here to act on the district's contract with Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts. Friday morning, everything changed for all of us, including Dr. Roberts. The individual who was leading our district with energy and enthusiasm was detained by ICE agents. Since that time, this district, the Iowa Department of Education, the Department of Homeland
002Security, and others have learned that his citizenship and status and eligibility to work in the United States is not what we were led to believe. New details have led to more questions, really important questions. For all of us, this is not what we anticipated when we welcomed Dr. Ian Roberts into central Iowa and the De Moines School District a little more than two years ago. It is a sad and troubling end for an individual who gave many people, especially our students, hope. As De Moines school board members, we have a responsibility to uphold the law, to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, and to lead the district forward in the best way possible. DMPS reviewed Dr. Robert's I-9 where he stated he was a US citizen and provided two forms of ID, a driver's license
003and a social security card. And Denton Davis Brown determined the information submitted was consistent with his claim that he was a US citizen. However, in the past 24 hours, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked Dr. Robert's license, meaning he is not able to serve as a superintendent in our state. Yesterday afternoon, the Department of Homeland Security informed us that he is not eligible to work in the United States and therefore could not be employed in any fashion at DMPS. There are several reason there are several reasons leading to just cause for termination. However, the above two actions by different government agencies mean that Dr. Roberts can no longer remain employed with our school district. In accordance with due process, we gave Dr. Roberts an opportunity through his attorney to provide any information that would
004substantiate his claims by answering a set of questions regarding citizenship. He did not provide the board with the information we requested. Instead, he submitted a letter of resignation through his attorney, and the board will vote to accept his resignation. As each board member votes, please know that the school board made the difficult but right decision given the circumstances. We will now move to action D1, motion. Thank you. Thank you. Ian Roberts, Dr. Roberts. Department. Dr. Roberts, Iowa. administras. Davis Brown Roberts Departmentit. Dr. Roberts No proportion. Renia Alvarola. Correct. The board will have one action item this evening. Motion to consider termination or resignation of superintendent's contract. Board member Miss Knox will make a motion. >> I move that we approve the resignation of Dr. Roberts effective immediately. >> We have a motion to accept the
005resignation of the superintendent by Miss Knox. May I have a second? >> Marterano. Second. >> We have a second by Miss Marterano. But Miss Rios, can you please take the vote? >> Yes. Miss Alonzo? >> Yes. >> Miss Compost? >> Yes. >> Mr. Dixs? >> Yes. >> Miss Knox? >> Yes. >> Miss Martano? >> Yes. >> Dr. Mayberry Mace? >> Yes. Miss Norris. >> Yes. >> The vote is approved 7 to zero and the board will accept the resignation of the superintendent. I'm now going to turn it over to Dr. Mayberry Mace to make some closing comments. >> This is a sad and disappointing day for De Moines Public Schools. The motion carries and we have accepted Dr. Robert's resignation. As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we want to repeat that no taxpayer dollars were spent
006as of 12:01 a.m. on Monday on Dr. Robert's compensation. With tonight's board vote, questions related to his immigration status, ability to work, and related issues should be directed to his attorney, Alfredo Parish. Any additional information on his detainment, immigration records, or eligibility should be referred to the Department of Homeland Security or its Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. DMPS will continue to cooperate with state and federal authorities. And now we must begin the process of moving forward together. Our district is more than one person. We have 30,000 students, 5,000 staff members, and thousands of people who each and every day do the important work of serving our children, celebrating our successes, and welcoming them to our schools. While these past few days have been an unprecedented time, the 35,000 people who make up DMPS offer so
007much opportunity each and every day. Most importantly, our focus must remain on our students. Dr. Roberts Alfredo Parish. National control the ice. Fore person. much. Thank you. Thank you. And without objection, this board meeting is adjourned at 9:19 p.m. Check. Check. >> Check. One. Two. Check. Check. Check. Check. One. Wow. You're good. Yeah, you could just tell me when we're done. >> Okay, >> everybody set, ready to go? So, we're just going to take a few questions tonight um uh with school board chair Jackie Norris and um then call it an evening. So, >> great. >> Thank you. >> How is this situation being addressed with students? Yeah, you know, one of the things we are so lucky to have uh Matt Smith as our interim superintendent. He is leading with heart and passion and
008guts and bringing his principles and teachers and staff along. And so, as I think uh began earlier this uh weekend and I know on Sunday, resources have been made available to parents how to talk with their children about this topic and that will continue. So, this will continue. I'm sure it will be a continuous conversation. This will not be over tomorrow for a lot of our young students. I I'm not aware of ICE agents coming to our office at any point. >> A lot of students walking >> Yeah. You know, one of the things I think we should all be proud about about our students is that they are comfortable using their voice and advocating for things that they think are important. And I'm also incredibly proud of how our staff uh worked to make
009sure that they were kept safe. So, they had the opportunity to voice their opinions and also that they were kept safe and were able to return back to school uh without too much disruption during the day. Today we also learn that the Department of Justice. >> We have not. We just received the letter this afternoon and so uh I think we're set to have a conversation next week to learn more. >> Any reaction to the >> You know, I really haven't had a lot of time to take a look at it. So I you know in due time >> what some of the pros and cons would have been from hiring and resigning. >> Yeah. You know um a decision like this is really difficult and you have to weigh a lot of factors. The
010most significant ones for us were the ones that were staring right in front of us which is that he didn't have a license uh to actually be superintendent and he didn't have eligibility to work in this country. And so we didn't need a longer investigation to address all of the issues. We needed to look at the two things that were in front of us were which were just cause. And uh the the decision to accept the resignation. We moved swiftly forward uh and and we now turn it over to Dr. Roberts and Alfredo Parish and other entities to begin the work of addressing the citizenship issue. >> Um what can you say about Dr. Robert's tenure as superintendent and what do you think is big accomplishment? >> Yeah, you know, I would I would defer
011to other people to tell their own story about Dr. Roberts. I think there's no doubt he brought uh spark um and um enthusiasm to education and learning and you saw that in the kids and that's why I think we really have to stay focused on how we're communicating with our young people because citizenship is a very complex issue as we've talked about and at the end of the day what we know is that you know somebody can have a citizenship status that may not be legal and at the same time a person could be a good human being and I think we just have to keep remembering that our kids are watching this and processing this. >> How do you think your handling of this has been? >> I love my volunteer job as chair
012of the school board and I have put everything down since Friday morning since the minute this happened and focused on nothing but our students and our staff. And I will let the chips fall. Is there any future where he could be returning to Dwayne? >> You know, that's a hypothetical. I don't think I can speak for the board at this point. >> Um, decisions about that you're going to be reviewing over the coming >> I can't speak to anything specific. I do know that the board uh is going to reconvene next week and uh take a look at you know what's next and what's next includes a lot of things but the most important a lot of things as it relates to next steps in leadership and and searches and things like that but right
013now we are so excited to move forward with our interim superintendent to advocate and get our community excited about reimagining education and I think if I could ask for one thing it is to remind everybody that reimagining educ Education is an initiative that was catalyzed by the board that was informed by the staff here including our interim superintendent that was informed by the community and the students and the parents. And so we are really excited and we need everybody to get out there and support our kids. And the way that you can support our kids is by supporting that uh that bond referendum. >> Thanks everybody. >> Great. Thank you.