• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Superintendent of Des Moines, Iowa Public Schools, Dr. Ian Andre arrested by ICE

Grizzly Adams said:
Refreshing, then, to know you don't think Trump's "messed up paperwork" should not have led to prosecution.
Click to expand...
Asking you to prove your assertion is not the same as agreement. Is English not your first language?
 
Iowa’s stunning, embarrassing immigration mess

By the end of July, the board got some surprising news about their new superintendent. He had been named in a $250,000 settlement with an ex-employee at his previous job as head of the Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania. Melody Ellington, the Pennsylvania district’s human resources director under Roberts, claimed she had been subjected to “unlawful treatment.” The nature of that treatment was not revealed. Roberts said he could not comment on a confidential personnel issue, but he insisted the problem “had absolutely nothing to do with me leaving Millcreek and coming to Des Moines.”

There was more. It turns out Roberts left two other settlements in his wake in Pennsylvania. Both of them, one for $87,500 and the other for $66,000, went to school officials demoted by Roberts. Altogether, Roberts left the Millcreek system on the hook for $403,500 in legal settlements. His new employers in Des Moines knew nothing about it.

Then came the final order of removal, deportation, in May 2024. (For those noting such things, the action, last year, was obviously not part of the Trump crackdown.) Roberts said nothing to the Des Moines school board and continued in his role.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Iowa's stunning, embarrassing immigration mess

Des Moines school officials were in for a far bigger surprise when they learned that Roberts was in the United States illegally.
www.washingtonexaminer.com www.washingtonexaminer.com
 
roberthughey said:
Iowa’s stunning, embarrassing immigration mess

By the end of July, the board got some surprising news about their new superintendent. He had been named in a $250,000 settlement with an ex-employee at his previous job as head of the Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania. Melody Ellington, the Pennsylvania district’s human resources director under Roberts, claimed she had been subjected to “unlawful treatment.” The nature of that treatment was not revealed. Roberts said he could not comment on a confidential personnel issue, but he insisted the problem “had absolutely nothing to do with me leaving Millcreek and coming to Des Moines.”

There was more. It turns out Roberts left two other settlements in his wake in Pennsylvania. Both of them, one for $87,500 and the other for $66,000, went to school officials demoted by Roberts. Altogether, Roberts left the Millcreek system on the hook for $403,500 in legal settlements. His new employers in Des Moines knew nothing about it.

Then came the final order of removal, deportation, in May 2024. (For those noting such things, the action, last year, was obviously not part of the Trump crackdown.) Roberts said nothing to the Des Moines school board and continued in his role.

www.washingtonexaminer.com

Iowa's stunning, embarrassing immigration mess

Des Moines school officials were in for a far bigger surprise when they learned that Roberts was in the United States illegally.
www.washingtonexaminer.com www.washingtonexaminer.com
Click to expand...
I live in Des Moines, and it’s not “Iowa’s Stunning Immigration Mess.” In fairness, that’s what happens linking an article from the Washington Examiner. It’s not Iowa’s mess, it’s all on the Des Moines School Board. Long time locals like me know that. You’re better off reading the articles in the Des Moines Register (although online you only get 5 free articles per month.)

The Des Moines Public School Board has had ugly issues with the past three superintendents. First, it was Nancy Sebring from 2006-2012. She decided to suddenly jump ship for the superintendent job in Omaha in 2012. The press in both Omaha and Des Moines filed open records requests for her emails to see why she decided to leave. It uncovered sexually explicit emails on her school email account with a man who was local and in the military. She ended up resigning from the Omaha job as quickly as she accepted it, then she sued the Des Moines Public School District about releasing the emails. She won $350,000.00.

Next, it was Tom Ahart from 2013-2022. He got in trouble during the pandemic with Governor Kim Reynolds, a Republican Trump bootlicker who ruled that 50% of classes were to be held in school, Covid be damned, and he wouldn’t have any of that. The Board didn’t renew his contract, he was reprimanded, and he walked away a year early with $400,000.00 from the Des Moines School Board.

Next, was Roberts. The district hired JG Consulting, an outfit in Texas that specializes in educational executive placement. “Our diverse team of experts are committed to developing and placing leaders who are prepared to make a significant impact, offering personalized support and unmatched insights to help our partners achieve their goals.” How Roberts made it as far as he did in the process with the various academic frauds that have since been uncovered shows that whatever fees were paid to JG Consulting, were a waste.

The Examiner’s article does have good information on Robert’s issues in Pennsylvania prior to him coming to Des Moines.
 
Grogu said:
Next, was Roberts. The district hired JG Consulting, an outfit in Texas that specializes in educational executive placement. “Our diverse team of experts are committed to developing and placing leaders who are prepared to make a significant impact, offering personalized support and unmatched insights to help our partners achieve their goals.” How Roberts made it as far as he did in the process with the various academic frauds that have since been uncovered shows that whatever fees were paid to JG Consulting, were a waste
Click to expand...
Thank you.

This right here is where the school district and people of Des Moines got screwed.

And if you take the time - every position as superintendent that was held by this guy - the search was conducted by a different “executive search” firm. Short lived. Controversy, etc.

These firms collected fees and did crappy work and didn’t properly vet this guy.

But then again, it’s not like there is a gigantic candidate pool of public school superintendents just floating around out there in the job market.
 
roberthughey said:
Iowa’s stunning, embarrassing immigration mess
Click to expand...
No, what this is was an example of a crappy executive search firm likely polishing up this guy’s resume and then not doing their due diligence on his background checks.

And the school district - considering they paid a HEFTY executive search fee for someone with a $270K base salary - being mistaken that for what they paid, they could expect the search firm to DO THEIR JOB.
 
Common Sense 1 said:
View attachment 67591357


Seems like a very high salary? Could that actually be his salary?
Click to expand...

Isn’t Des Moines the largest city in Iowa?
Seems strange that there are 15 other Superintendents making more.
I would think that the Des Moines school district has well over a thousand employees, probably tens of thousands of students, and multiple millions of dollars of property, facilities and equipment.
$350k doesn’t seem low for the person responsible for all of that.
The population of Des Moines is approximately 210,000. Cedar Rapids, the 2nd largest city, is approximately 135,000.
 
verrip1 said:
OK. You don't like to have US law enforced. It "seems bad for America" in your opinion.

I hope you know how stupid this assertion sounds.
Click to expand...
Not too long ago you Trumpublicans were calling this type of thing a “process crime”.
I wonder what the difference is.
 
BirdinHand said:
No, it’s not.

It’s low end of median.
Click to expand...
It’s amazing that some people choose to double down with bad information to go along with their uninformed statements.

Anybody who researches current events, politics, or practically anything of interest in Iowa, shouldn’t do so without reading relevant articles online in The Des Moines Register first. Or the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the Waterloo Courier, the Iowa City Press-Citizen, or the Quad-City Times. That’s where the reliable information can be found.

Like this article in The Register from August 8, 2025. The article also has a link to a spreadsheet with all of the information for every public school district in the state. Imagine that- good, accurate information and not bullshit.


It should also be stated that like any other executives, salaries make up most of their compensation, but not all of it. Roberts’ salary was $279,450.00, but his total compensation was $305,917.00.

Here are the top 6 paid superintendents in Iowa. I’d give the top 10, but my point is already made.

#1 Cedar Rapids Community School District
Tawana Grover
Total compensation: $405,601.00
Students enrolled: 16,121

#2 Iowa City Community School District
Matt Degner
Total compensation: $357,443.00
Students enrolled: 14,551

#3 Ottumwa Community School District
Mike McGrory
Total compensation: $354,428.00
Students enrolled: 5,123

#4 Muscatine Community School District
Clint Christopher
Total compensation: $329,545.00
Students enrolled: 4,316

#5 Davenport Community School District
TJ Schneckloth
Total compensation: $326,828.00
Students enrolled: 13,567

#6 Marshalltown Community School District
Theron J. Schutte
Total compensation: $324,525.00
Students enrolled: 5,380
 
Grogu said:
It’s amazing that some people choose to double down with bad information to go along with their uninformed statements.

Anybody who researches current events, politics, or practically anything of interest in Iowa, shouldn’t do so without reading relevant articles online in The Des Moines Register first. Or the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the Waterloo Courier, the Iowa City Press-Citizen, or the Quad-City Times. That’s where the reliable information can be found.

Like this article in The Register from August 8, 2025. The article also has a link to a spreadsheet with all of the information for every public school district in the state. Imagine that- good, accurate information and not bullshit.


It should also be stated that like any other executives, salaries make up most of their compensation, but not all of it. Roberts’ salary was $279,450.00, but his total compensation was $305,917.00.

Here are the top 6 paid superintendents in Iowa. I’d give the top 10, but my point is already made.

#1 Cedar Rapids Community School District
Tawana Grover
Total compensation: $405,601.00
Students enrolled: 16,121

#2 Iowa City Community School District
Matt Degner
Total compensation: $357,443.00
Students enrolled: 14,551

#3 Ottumwa Community School District
Mike McGrory
Total compensation: $354,428.00
Students enrolled: 5,123

#4 Muscatine Community School District
Clint Christopher
Total compensation: $329,545.00
Students enrolled: 4,316

#5 Davenport Community School District
TJ Schneckloth
Total compensation: $326,828.00
Students enrolled: 13,567

#6 Marshalltown Community School District
Theron J. Schutte
Total compensation: $324,525.00
Students enrolled: 5,380
Click to expand...
Some people understand that when comparing salaries and compensation packages - you use metrics of comparable employer size and comparable levels of responsibilities.

Others…don’t.

🤷‍♀️
 
Grogu said:
It’s amazing that some people choose to double down with bad information to go along with their uninformed statements.

Anybody who researches current events, politics, or practically anything of interest in Iowa, shouldn’t do so without reading relevant articles online in The Des Moines Register first. Or the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the Waterloo Courier, the Iowa City Press-Citizen, or the Quad-City Times. That’s where the reliable information can be found.

Like this article in The Register from August 8, 2025. The article also has a link to a spreadsheet with all of the information for every public school district in the state. Imagine that- good, accurate information and not bullshit.


It should also be stated that like any other executives, salaries make up most of their compensation, but not all of it. Roberts’ salary was $279,450.00, but his total compensation was $305,917.00.

Here are the top 6 paid superintendents in Iowa. I’d give the top 10, but my point is already made.

#1 Cedar Rapids Community School District
Tawana Grover
Total compensation: $405,601.00
Students enrolled: 16,121

#2 Iowa City Community School District
Matt Degner
Total compensation: $357,443.00
Students enrolled: 14,551

#3 Ottumwa Community School District
Mike McGrory
Total compensation: $354,428.00
Students enrolled: 5,123

#4 Muscatine Community School District
Clint Christopher
Total compensation: $329,545.00
Students enrolled: 4,316

#5 Davenport Community School District
TJ Schneckloth
Total compensation: $326,828.00
Students enrolled: 13,567

#6 Marshalltown Community School District
Theron J. Schutte
Total compensation: $324,525.00
Students enrolled: 5,380
Click to expand...

That's "total compensation," not salary. I was going by average salaries of superintendents. I see now that they added in benefits to the total. My bad.
 
The OP needs to post a few more pictures to show us just how black Andre is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom