Officials put the leader of Iowa’s largest school district on administrative leave Saturday, a day after federal immigration agents arrested him because they said he was in the country illegally.
The Des Moines school board voted unanimously to place Superintendent Ian Roberts on paid leave during a three-minute-long special meeting. The board said Roberts was not available to carry out his duties for the 30,000-student district and stated that officials would reassess his status after getting more information.
After the meeting, school board president Jackie Norris read a statement, saying word of Roberts’ arrest Friday made for a “jarring day” but noting that board members still didn’t have all the facts.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said agents detained Roberts because he was in the country illegally, didn’t have authorization to work and was subject to a final removal order issued in 2024. ICE agents stopped Roberts while he was driving a school-issued vehicle, and the agency said he then fled into a wooded area before being apprehended with help from Iowa State Patrol officers.
He was held in the Woodbury County Jail in Sioux City, in northwest Iowa, about 150 miles from Des Moines.
