The board of the state’s largest school district has voted to give interim superintendent Matt Smith the job permanently. Smith was named interim superintendent of the Des Moines schools almost one year ago after former superintendent Ian Roberts was arrested by ICE agents. District leaders say Smith has expanded outreach for multilingual families and helped shape the districts Reimagining Education initiative. Smith says the district can expect him to be the same kind of leader he was in his previous role.
Smith says his top priorities include improving literacy outcomes and graduation rates, and moving forward with the district redesign.
Federal officials say former Des Moines Superintendent Roberts entered the U-S from Guyana in 1999 on a student visa, was not authorized to work in the U-S. He was found to have a gun in the district car he was driving when he was arrested. Roberts reached a plea deal and was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to lying about being a citizen and illegally possessing guns. He is expected to be deported back to Guyana when his sentence is complete.
