This podcast was recorded on Monday.

As the saying goes, 24 hours is a long time in politics. In this interview, you’ll hear the origin story of a formidable candidate for the Iowa Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination.

Jackie Norris is, by any measure, formidable. She knows organizational politics—having helped Barack Obama win Iowa by a sizable margin.

Today, as chair of the Des Moines Public School Board, she is facing a leadership crisis that may well serve as a preview of the kind of U.S. Senator she could be.

I’m not going to comment directly on the detention of Dr. Ian Roberts—except to say that, as a fellow human being, I can hardly imagine the trauma of being pulled over, especially knowing how many people with skin tones other than white have been whisked away or disappeared.

What I will comment on, as a political observer of many years, is that one of my suspicions was about a motive to take action that could be detriment to the US Senate aspirations of the current DMPS board chair.

Was this ‘traffic stop’ a coincidence—or something orchestrated as a way to weaken a highly regarded public official, Dr. Ian Roberts, and the school board that hired him.

What raised my suspicions even further was a comment posted this afternoon on my column here. The poster is not a subscriber, nor did they use a real name. Nor did they have any kind of legitimate profile on Substack. Out of the blue, with no history, someone pops up in my comments to say Jackie Norris ought to resign from her role as school board president.

Well, well, well.

What’s that odor in the air?

It seems there are folks who’d like to nip the Jackie Norris candidacy in the bud—before Emily’s List endorses and field staff are hired.

But what do I know?

I reached out to Jackie Norris via email this evening and asked if she had any further comment, to which she replied:

Not sure what to add other than what I am doing - leading as School Board Chair with authenticity and heart while also ensuring we are doing our fiduciary responsibility to the district. Jackie Norris

On her Facebook page this evening, Jackie Norris posted this message:

In the spirit of sharing facts - here is what I read on behalf of the board earlier today. Ms. Alonzo also read it in Spanish.

___

Good evening:

Below is a copy of the statement given at the Board meeting as it was sent to all families and staff via ParentSquare this evening:

School Board Places Dr. Roberts on Leave, Shares Statement

Des Moines Public Schools • Amanda Lewis • an hour ago • Saturday, Sep 27 at 6:46 PM • Des Moines Public Schools

The School Board met on the evening of Saturday, September 27 and placed Dr. Ian Roberts on administrative leave. Following the Board’s vote, School Board chair Jackie Norris gave the following statement on behalf of the Board:

There is no denying this simple fact: yesterday was a jarring day for many people, not only at Des Moines Public Schools but throughout this community and country.

In 2023, our students, staff and families warmly welcomed Dr. Roberts into our community, and he has served as an enthusiastic voice in support of our students’ academic success and the need to support public education.

So yesterday came as a shock to all of us.

I want to be clear today: we still do not have all of the facts.

According to ICE, in May 2024, an immigration judge issued a final removal order for Dr. Roberts. We were not made aware of that fact and that’s very concerning. I want to be clear: No one here was aware of any citizenship or immigration issues that Dr. Roberts may have been facing.

The accusations ICE has made against Dr. Roberts are very serious. And we are taking them very seriously.

Dr. Roberts has obtained representation from the Parrish Kruidenier Law Firm, and they have already provided a statement on their role. They will probably be offering future statements.

As we shared yesterday afternoon, employers, including DMPS, are required to verify employment eligibility for all employees. In this case, Dr. Roberts completed the I-9 employment eligibility verification form and submitted the required documentation. Everything the district has on file indicates Dr. Robert affirmed that he was a citizen who was eligible to work for the school district.

The Iowa Department of Education issued a license in 2023 to the Des Moines Superintendent. The Agency says an FBI criminal background check did not raise issues and Dr. Roberts said he was a U.S. citizen on the application.

Later on, we will address the steps the board took when conducting the Superintendent search and hiring Dr. Roberts in 2023.

Two things can be true.

We must support our Interim Superintendent and Staff as they lead 35,000 students and staff on Monday because our collective role is to educate and support our students and their families. And we must continue to pursue the facts in this case and understand our school community is still processing this very significant issue.

I also want to be clear about one fact that cannot be ignored: of course, the school district ensured that a background check was conducted before hiring Dr. Roberts. That is done for every person who is hired by the district and periodic reviews are conducted on a regular basis for all current employees.

On that point, I want to share the steps in the process that led to the hiring of Dr. Roberts.

• In December 2022, DMPS approved a contract with JG Consulting as the district’s search firm to bring qualified Superintendent candidates for our consideration;

• Between January and the end of March 2023, the Board worked with the search firm on a variety of issues related to the qualifications and characteristics of candidates for the position, as the search firm recruited potential candidates for consideration;

• Between April 11-13, the School Board conducted interviews with candidates;

• On May 16, the School Board approved our first contract with Dr. Roberts, who began his role as Superintendent on July 1, 2023.

As a part of their work for DMPS, JG Consulting’s contract included their obligation to disclose to the district all known information of a positive or negative nature regarding candidates for the Superintendent position. That included having comprehensive criminal, credit, and background checks conducted by a third party. In this case, the search firm used a company called Baker-Eubanks to conduct the background check, which found nothing related to citizenship or immigration matters related to Dr. Roberts.

After his selection, Dr. Roberts then applied for his superintendent license with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners. The State of Iowa issued a superintendent license to Dr. Roberts on July 11, 2023.

This all came after a career of more than 20 years that Dr. Roberts spent as an educator and school leader in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Maryland, Washington D.C., and New York.

In addition, DMPS is cooperating with requests for information from State of Iowa authorities and will continue to do so.

Finally, we all need to cool down the rhetoric. We should promote true discourse and facts, not spread misinformation meant to divide us.

Our elected officials need to behave like role models for our children – enough with the name calling and misinformation that is meant to divide us. We are talking about human beings.

Our kids are watching – they are online 24/7, on social media, on phones, and what they see right now is likely very difficult for them to process. While we work to address this personnel issue, we must continue to lift up our district, our students and staff and push back against hateful rhetoric against us.

Our Monday Podcast Held This Week

Jackie Norris joined our Potluck Zoom with the energy of a former teacher. Born in Ossining, NY, she caught the D.C. bug early, moved to Iowa in 1998 to work for Tom Vilsack, and never looked back. Now a Des Moines School Board chair, ex–Goodwill CEO, and small-business owner, Norris says her “why” is simple: kids and families. She argues we can’t normalize government dysfunction, wants campaign-finance reform and a ban on congressional stock trading, and pushes a practical, hopeful agenda: universal pre-K, real career pathways for every graduate, and a national plan for the caregiving economy. Rural to urban, she’s about doorbells more than hashtags—and she’s ready to prove it.

Watch and or listen to the podcast, and review the transcript. Jackie Norris is someone to watch.

I’m delighted to be a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. 🌾✍️

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