DES MOINES, Iowa – Dr. Ian Roberts is a former Olympian, author and motivational speaker who was starting his second year as superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools. WHO 13’s Courtney Greene wraps up her special reports and talks to Dr. Roberts on his achievements, goals for the future and how long he sees himself in Des Moines.
“I anchor everything I do, as cliché as it sounds, on what is best for children and make the right decisions to inspire the 5,000 employees?”
The Des Moines School District recently broached the topic of limiting cell phones next school year.
“I have a board that understands the importance of making business-critical decisions that are anchored in data. And so I have a board that is willing to have those courageous conversations where we may not necessarily all agree on a decision at any given time, but we always find a way to compromise.”
One area where Roberts doesn’t compromise is finding new ways to engage with families who may not be involved in their children’s education.
“And so what I’ve been doing is the third or last Friday of every month. I go to different communities and have these 90 minute coffee conversations and essentially I find a local coffee shop somewhere, contact the owners weeks in advance and ask them if we can come and have these conversations here. And every single company we’ve contacted so far has committed to doing so. I realized that while we want to encourage community members and parents to meet us in primary and secondary schools, we haven’t necessarily made it easy for people; we always want them to come to this big district office or to one of our schools. And so I decided to go into the communities.”
And it makes a difference.
“The second kind of important approach for me is to make sure that every person, every adult in this district understands and is reminded every day that we are an academic institution, an educational organization, which means we have to be incredibly focused on education. and instructional practices that are of high quality. I want to ensure that public schools become known as the school system here in Iowa that provides quality educational outcomes for every student.”
Read more about DMPS Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts
Free breakfast and lunch (including dishes that reflect different cultures), expanding kindergarten and adding free Montessori schools are some notable achievements in the first year. That includes recruiting and retaining teachers and administrators who reflect the students they serve.
“The only public school is a majority-minority school system. Our largest general population, Latinx 32%, 31% white students, 22% African American, but over 95% of our teachers and leaders are white…Giving them instruction that is meaningful, that is affirming, that is on grade, and that is rigorous. And so we’re already seeing some of the first fruits of those investments. I’m proud of the work we’re doing and the strides we’re making, but while we recognize we still have a long way to go, but again, as this is a destination for me, we’re going to get this done. ”
There are also ongoing discussions to address declining enrollment, implement a pilot program to keep sixth graders in elementary schools such as Oak Park on Des Moines’ north side for another year, and encourage policymakers to vigorously expand public education continue to support. And Roberts says the 600 homeless students keep him awake at night.
“I plan to continue working with every legislator, every state official, to ensure everyone is on the same page about why quality public education can be a game changer for every Iowan. And we have many community partners, who provide them with temporary food or benefit from our food banks. I want us to get to this place where we can get to a position where our funding allows us to more or less meet the needs, the basic needs of all of our families. They don’t ask for anything that’s luxurious.”
As Roberts continues his work in year two, he doesn’t see Des Moines as a stop on his career path.
“I see the mine as a destination. If you had asked me this question a year ago, there would have been uncertainty. But now that he has been invited into this community and is doing the work in this school district, Des Moines is home. It feels like home. I travel around the country to attend conferences or other professional appointments, and it feels really good to say I’m going home.”
Latest Metro news:
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video, visit who13.com.
