Adam Steen, a Republican candidate for governor, says the state should take control of the Des Moines School District. The district’s superintendent was arrested by immigration agents a month ago and has been charged with falsely claiming to be a U-S citizen on the paperwork he filled out to be paid by the district. He’s also been charged with illegally possessing guns found in his home and a school vehicle.

“We need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to protect our students,” Steen says. “The Ian Roberts situation is a travesty and the fact that he was hired into that position as a criminal illegal alien is something that we need to pay very close attention to.” Steen says having the state oversee the Des Moines district would be similar to President Trump’s order sending National Guard troops to L.A. and D.C. — cities that are being led by Democrats.

“He’s going in there and he’s taking action,” Steen says. “In my administration, I would take action and ensure our children are safe and that our families are safe.” The state auditor’s office is conducting a re-audit of the district and investigating the process the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners used to grant Roberts a professional administrator’s license in 2023 when he became superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district. State Auditor Rob Sand says he had to wait for legal requests from someone within the school district before he could launch those investigations. Steen says Sand — a Democrat who’s running for governor — should have gotten involved as soon as he learned of Roberts’ arrest.

Adam Steen on the “Iowa Press” set at Iowa PBS on Oct. 24, 2025. (Iowa PBS photo)

“Do your job, get involved and make sure that we understand what’s going on,” Steen says. “The school district just put another top administrator on leave with no detail on why they did that…Everybody needs to dig in and figure out what’s going on.” Steen says state funding of the district should be withheld until a forensic audit has been completed.

“Make sure that money is going to appropriate places,” Steen said, “otherwise our children are at risk and that’s what the most important thing is.” Steen made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S. Before announcing this summer that he’d run for governor, Steen served five years as director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services — the H-R agency for state government.