001Good to start. >> Okay, >> it is 6:30 and we are going to reconvene. First, we will take the role. Miss Rios, please call the role. >> Miss Alonso, >> here. Miss Compos, >> Mr. Dixs, Miss Knox >> here, >> Miss Marterrono >> here, >> Dr. Mayberry Mace >> online. Dr. Mayberry Mace, Miss Norris >> here. We have quorum. First, I'm going to be read a statement on behalf of the board. Thank you for joining us this evening. As a district, we are navigating through an unprecedented few days with the abrupt arrest and detention of Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and appreciate the chance to share an update with you tonight. The allegations made by ICE against Dr. Roberts are very significant and the board is taking this very seriously.
002I want to be clear, at no point was any DMPS employee or board member notified that Dr. Roberts was not eligible to work by a federal agency or Dr. Roberts. This is an evolving situation and we are learning new information on an hourly basis from a variety of different sources. Early this morning, we were notified that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked Dr. Robert's license to practice as a superintendent in the state of Iowa. Without such a license, Dr. Roberts is not in compliance with his contract. That led to our action today, later this meeting, to change Dr. Robert's leave to unpaid administrative leave. Today at 2:15 p.m. we received a document from the Department of Homeland Services notifying us that Dr. Roberts is an unauthorized worker in this country. Later this afternoon at
0033:45, we then received a copy of the final order of removal issued by the US Department of Justice and signed by an immigration judge. We have asked Dr. Robert's attorney to provide us with clarification around the citizenship matters by Tuesday at noon. We need to understand what happened and why. This latest news means that at this time, unless we receive new material, new material information tomorrow at noon demonstrating that Dr. Roberts is eligible to work. Our board will commence the process required by Iowa code chapter code 279 to end the contract with the superintendent. It is very important that we abide by the due process afforded to Dr. Roberts under the law. As a board, our job is to protect the 35,000 students and staff that walk through our doors daily, serve as good stewards
004of our taxpayer dollars, and comply with all federal and state laws. We must also be responsible and that and ensure that we have all the facts to make decisions. We can tell you that on his I-9, he stated he was a citizen and he provided two forms of verification, a driver's license and a security, social security card. As is typical in other organizations, this is what employers ask of their employees. And as an employer, we trust employees to fill out their required forms truthfully and provide valid documentation. The Denton's Davis Brown Law Firm reviewed this and stated that the information presented on and with the I-9 did not raise concerns about his eligibility to work. We are working to comply with all federal and state laws and to make the best decisions for our students
005and staff members. We appreciate our partnership with Governor Reynolds, the Iowa Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, the State of Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, as well as Congressman Zack Nun, who has made a foyer request of ICE. Finally, many things can be true. Dr. Roberts brought enthusiasm to the district and a lot of our students identified with him and the enthusiasm he brought to the classroom. This type of information is very difficult for our students and staff to process. Please respect and understand that and continue to support our 30,000 students and 5,000 staff who do the important work of teaching and helping our students learn as evidenced by some of our most recent scores. The board and district must continue to pursue the facts and follow the law. I encourage all of
006you to only share facts, not spread misinformation. Finally, our kids are watching this closely and they are scared and concerned. Our community has students from all across the world and this is personal. Our teachers and staff are here to support them. We would appreciate it if the hateful rhetoric directed at our district and staff please stop so we can ensure as minimal disruption as possible. Thank you. We are now moving on to action item D1 action of >> Did you need to do Spanish? >> Thank you. We are now going to read the statement in Spanish by uh school board member Miss Alonzo. Thank you. Dr. Ian Roberts Roberts Dr. Roberts Roberts educ Iowa. Dr. Roberts Roberts Dr. Roberts administr forific. Denton Davis Brown. collaborators. Z 9cess. person. Fore information. person interruption. possibly. >> Thank
007you. At this point, we will move to action D1, action on administrative leave of the superintendent. And I will turn it over to Miss Knox. >> Oh, Miss Compos. Thank you. >> I would like to make a motion to place Dr. Roberts on unpaid leave effective 12 a.m. on September 29th, 2025. We have a motion by uh Miss Campos. May I have a second? >> I also second. >> We have a motion by Miss Campos and a second by Miss Alonzo. Miss Rios, can you please take the vote? >> Oh, I have a comment for discussion. I Yes, please. >> Yes. Um, so I wanted to share that today Mike Caven, executive director for the state board of educational examiners, notified DMPS that they had revoked the license of Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts. At 12:55
008p.m., we asked the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners to provide the documentation they used as the basis for their decision to revoke his license. But we also accept this decision as fact. The loss of a superintendent license triggers unpaid administrative leave, which we could not do until the license was revoked or until concrete evidence was received that Dr. Roberts has been determined ineligible to work. Today, the board will vote to approve moving Dr. Roberts from paid administrative leave to unpaid administrative leave. To those concerned about taxpayer dollars, this is retroactive. So, Dr. Roberts will receive no pay or benefits effective Monday, September 29th at 12:01 a.m. We have a motion by Miss Campos and a second by Miss Alonzo. Miss Rios, can you please take the vote? >> Miss Alonzo, >> yes. Miss Compos, >>
009yes. >> Um, Mr. Dixs, I don't believe he's online. Miss Knox, >> yes. >> Miss Martana, >> yes. >> Dr. Mayberry Mace, >> yes. >> Miss Norris, >> yes. The vote is approved 6 to 0. At this point, thank you. And without objection, the meeting is adjourned at >> 6:45 p.m. I'd love it if you At this time, the board will be taking questions from the press in a short um in a short press conference um as soon as Chair Norris returns. Check one. Anybody need this anymore? Hey, good evening everybody. Thanks a lot for coming out this evening. Thanks for your patience. Um, we're going to take just a little time. Uh, uh, our schoolboard chair, Jackie Norris, be happy to answer, uh, questions. There may be some questions, too, for specific, uh, items
010that I'll, uh, respond to or or a council. So, uh, with that, I'll turn this over to board chair, Miss Norris. >> Thank you, everybody. I'll do my best to answer questions, and if not, I'll clearly state that I do not know the answer, but we will get back to you with an answer if we can provide it. Clearly the state documentation shows us any way. >> I can't confirm I cannot confirm how the board of educational examiners made their decision. We have asked for the documentation that they use to make that decision. Um, what we have received from the Department of Homeland Security was information stating that they had the basis to determine that Dr. Roberts was ineligible to work in our country. make a decision. >> It is very important for us to
011take a moment and make sure that we have the basis for any decision we made. So we have asked Dr. Robert's attorney by tomorrow at noon to provide a set of documents including the information to verify his citizenship status. What is the mood of the district and how has this affected that mood? >> Yeah, you know, uh when we think about this as board members, I we think about the kids and you know, he sparked a joy in our kids and an excitement in our kids and that's I think it probably over time is probably heartbreaking if it turns out that his citizenship status is in question. So on the flip side, I do want to say one thing. We have total confidence in Matt Smith as our interim superintendent. He is leading with such
012grace and he is leading his principles and they are supporting the teachers and students and staff. And so two things can be true. You can feel um disappointed and process that and at the same time the staff also has to move forward to make sure the conditions for learning for our students are there. You called for radical empathy. Are you still calling for radical empathy? And is the board taking any responsibility for his hiring? >> Yeah, you know, I appreciate the question. So, the board operates in good faith in partnership with the search firm that we used. And so, a search firm is hired, very typical in a process. The board contracts with a search firm. And the search firm is given a set of parameters for what we're looking for in a superintendent. They
013go out and they provide a list of candidates to us. We go through the interview process and then they in turn work with a third party to do all of the vetting. And I think the vetting includes criminal background check and other uh other checks and then they come back with a recommendation for us. And so we are operating on the information that was given to us. And there was nothing in the information that was given to us to allude to any question about his citizenship. >> What happened with that? >> I mean, I think it's jarring, right? It is. I mean, we we all found out with everybody else from the news. And so I think for us our responsibility is to do what is right and in the best interest of the district
014and to provide uh the continuity that we needed to. And so obviously one of the first things we did was when uh Dr. Roberts was detained and no longer able to lead the district because he was physically um in unable was turning to Matt Smith and asking him to take over and lead as interim superintendent and move the district operations forward because at that time we had over 30,000 35,000 students and staff in our buildings. >> You talk about the kids a lot and I just I I know it sounds kind of simple but it sounds like he was a big part of so many kids' lives. How do you explain this to a what's happening right now. >> Yeah. You know, one of the things I'm really proud of Dr. Roberts, excuse me, of
015um interim superintendent Matt Smith along with his team of adviserss is working with principles and teachers on how to talk to children about a very difficult situation. And so, citizenship is a very complex issue. It requires multiple documents. And that is something that we are entrusting our staff along with the families to talk with their children about what citizenship means and also to help people understand that um two things can be true. It is possible that you may not be a citizen but you are still a good human being. >> What would the Iowa board of examiners examiners have been reviewing would have been the same materials that you did the social security card and the driver's license? I don't know what basis they use. I do know that in addition to the things that
016we've talked about, they also do a fingerprinting uh check as well. So, you found the weapons inside of a district vehicle. Um, can you talk to me if that is grounds for termination and why he may have had that day? >> Yeah, we were completely shocked about the guns and our board policy states that guns are not allowed on district property at district sanctioned events. And so we were we were as shocked as as everybody else was to learn of that. >> But is that ground for termination? If you find an employee with a weapon in a district, that itself >> Yes. >> Um we've heard a lot of speculation about and everything. I'm just wondering what >> you know I think everybody's piecing together a story of Dr. Robert's background. What we are doing
017is waiting to hear back from Dr. Robert's attorney uh who is at Parish Cryine nearer who has been asked to provide us a comprehensive immigration and education history so that we can have a comprehensive picture. >> You have immigrant students, you have refugee students, have undocumented students. How are you making sure that they feel safe at school? >> Yeah. The most important thing we can do as leaders, as a community, is to put as much love and compassion for these students as possible. These are young children trying to process a very difficult subject. And so I think uh both at the academic level making sure that teachers and staff feel comfortable having conversations with students. We've sent out notifications and information to families to help them think about ways to talk to their students. And
018I think we've also made it clear as a board that we do not want hateful rhetoric directed at our staff, directed at our students, directed at the board because it is not helpful. >> As you look back at the hiring process these last few days, has there been anything you found mistakes that were made, things that you wish you had done differently looking at it? Yeah, you know, in hindsight, I think um there is nothing we would have done differently because we followed the process. I think move and and quite honestly, this is the process that many employers use all across the country. And so I think the one thing we will do after this is a kind of an afteraction review to identify ways that we might strengthen or even enhance the process. So
019I think two things can be true. We followed the process which is the same process as other um other employers and yet we will look for ways to strengthen the process given what's happened. >> Community members >> I'm going to go over here. >> Community members have told me that they are still shocked just processing this you know a couple days after talked about the children but just just the people in the community maybe people that don't have students here you know what would you say to them? Yeah, look, this is an individual who uh brought a lot of enthusiasm uh and vibrancy to our community and um sparked energy around public education and uh we also can continue to have that conversation. uh public education is a critical element of our country and we're
020going to keep having that conversation and I know that the people that are grappling with this I also know that in the spirit of where we are right now what they want is the best for our students which is a high quality public education. >> This is looking ahead to November so a little bit but you have the bond refer it that's on the ballot $265 million Dr. Roberts was the spearhead for that. So I guess what does messaging turn to now? I've seen some comments on social media discussing that, people saying, "Hey, vote it down." I guess just curious. >> Yeah. You know, uh what most people forget is that the reimagining education actually was catalyzed by a very big broad board vision to reimagine the way our students learn and think. And it
021was actually put together comprehensively by a lot of staff including uh our interim superintendent Matt Smith. And so, you know, and it was informed by our community, by our parents, by our students. And so all of those same things exist. Um so our job is to take this big vision and ask our community to invest in our kids. And by all indications, we are moving forward and we have community support to do that. Is there any message you would have to parents who might have some concern about the hiring process within the district? >> We should feel very confident about our hiring process. We back we background check every employee. We have verified documentation. It is something we do on a regular basis and so I think uh I can speak with confidence uh that
022we have gone through every employee we taken through a process. >> No changes now since this happened. >> I can't speak to that yet. I think it's a I there may be changes. I don't know what they might be but again the process that we have followed is the correct process. >> Super quick are you reaching out to any other school districts or any other education institute kind of cross notes because I know this is a very confusing situation. >> Yeah I think when we do afteraction review we're going to talk through best practices and how other school districts handle things. We're just not at that point right now. for those struggling. >> Sorry. For those struggling, um whether they were students or staff, what are you offering like counseling, what kind of things, structural
023supports are you offering? >> Yeah, I'd love to leave that specifically to our interim superintendent, but I do know we have provided resources and so whether it's uh mental health counselors or it's trusted uh staff members that people can come and talk to. Um we'll get more. >> Thank you. It's a great question. If having a firearm, as she said, if having a firearm in a possession vehicle is grounds for termination, why was he put on paid leave or unpaid? >> Yeah, we are continuing to gather all of the facts and that is something that will be factored into our decision to move uh through the process. >> Question We don't we don't know. We're seeking information from Dr. Roberts and his attorney. >> You mentioned that DHS provided a copy of his order and
024I wanted to ask what information at this point that was. Can you repeat again from Department of Homeland Security? >> Yeah. What information are you asking for from his lawyers given that DHS or DOJ has provided this >> final? I think what we'd like to do is let the process play out, which is why we've asked Dr. Roberts by tomorrow at noon to provide a series of pieces of information that could refute the information that we're receiving. If we don't receive that information, then we will continue to move forward um towards a different process. >> And what does that process look like? So it is a 279 contract and I will have to ask Phil or others to answer but at a high level the board uh makes a decision to recommend termination and then
025it opens up a process where the employee actually has the opportunity to for 5 days to um to appeal that decision and then things continue from there. So it is a it is a longer process but that is you know as an employee of the state uh we are a public entity and so it is not uh something that you just snap your fingers and do. So um the process that we're moving forward to is uh consistent with how other administrators would be handled in this in this situation. >> Let's take time for just a couple. >> Yeah. Thank you. I've talked to a lot of people over the past few days, uh, members, staff, who are really upset with how this happened that granted, you said you didn't have notice of his order of
026removal until today. Uh, but everyone's asking the question, he's so visible, so prominent. Why did he get taken the way that he was taken? Why wasn't there contact with the rest of the district if they needed again? Do you share those frustrations with ICE and DHS and how they handled this? >> Look, I think there's probably more professional ways that ICE could have handled this issue. And at the same time, we don't have the information that they do. We don't know why they chose to do it, when they did, and so we have to respect that they had a process in place. I do think that uh you know as an employer moving forward, one of the things that I think every employer should be asking themsel is the obligation of um some federal entity
027to notify the employer when there is an actual issue um that we should be made aware aware of. >> No. So we have just requested that information and from there we will assess that information and then we will be meeting at some point tomorrow evening to discuss as a board what our next steps will be. >> Will that be an open meeting or a closed meeting? >> Yeah, I think you know we've been very careful to um air on the side. Well, let me say it differently. We always will try to meet in open session if we are talking about information that is already in the public domain. If there are material elements that are solely for board information as it relates to Dr. Roberts or Dr. Robert's attorney, we will at that point use
028that as a basis to go into close session. Our goal is to be as transparent as possible because we have nothing to hide and at the same time I think we have to see what facts unfold and we don't know that yet. >> Thanks everybody. >> Great. Thank you. >> If you have any followup I think everybody seems to know how to f find me without any problem. Um but if not uh feel free to call me at 5159915603 or shoot me an email phrase.org or and I'm sure we'll be in touch. Thanks everyone.