(Radio Iowa) – The chair of the Iowa House Oversight Committee says the arrest and evolving details about former Des Moines superintendent Ian Roberts are a great embarrassment for the state — and citizens expect lawmakers to respond. Republican Representative Charley Thomson of Charles City has sent the Des Moines School Board a letter, telling the board to keep every document related to the situation, including email and voice mail messages. “We’re going to have to reconstruct a lot of what happened and see where the points of failure were,” Thomson says. The Des Moines School Board hired a search firm that recommended Roberts, paid another firm to review his credentials and hired a Des Moines law firm to review his payroll application, which included a drivers license and Social Security card. Roberts also submitted fingerprints and other materials to the Iowa Board of Examiners two years ago and was granted a state license to serve as a superintendent.

“There are several gaps that we’ve identified in the process and we’re going to dig into every one of those,” Thomson said. “There are so many permutations that happened with this case that it’s going to keep us busy analyzing exactly what happened.” The Associated Press has reported the Des Moines School Board hired Roberts after learning he had been enrolled at Morgan State, but did not receive the doctorate in urban educational leadership listed on his resume. Roberts’ attorney and a spokesman for the school board say Roberts has a doctorate from Trident University International, a for-profit school that has not responded to media requests to confirm that. “It’s hard to imagine how this series of errors could occur with otherwise rational people running the show,” Thomson said. “It’s a stunning situation — unprecedented, and I hope it’s one of a kind, but we’ll find out.” Thomson has not scheduled a committee hearing at this point, however.

State Representative Charley Thomson (R-Charles City) is chairman of the House Oversight Committee (official photo)

“There is so much information coming out really every day, almost every hour, on what’s going on,” Thomson said. “We’d like the news to slow down a little before we can get a full focus of what the hearings would be, if we do have hearings.” Thomson says nothing is off the table in terms of legislation that would address whatever lawmakers discover, but he says they have to develop a timeline based on the established facts of the case first. Thomson, who is an attorney, says it’s important that the constitutional rights of those involved are respected — and he wants to ensure the committee’s work doesn’t interfere with any federal prosecution of Roberts. “This is an area of significant concern on a bunch of levels for the taxpayers and my constituents…are absolutely fed up with this,” Thomson said. “It’s a great embarrassment for the state and maybe a wake up call.”

The Woodbury County Sheriff announced this (Thursday) morning that federal authorities had taken custody of Roberts.  He was booked into the Polk County Jail Friday afternoon, and held on a U-S Marshal’s Service hold. Roberts had been held in the Woodbury County jail in Sioux City since Sept. 26th.