DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three months into his tenure leading Des Moines Public Schools, Ian Roberts asked the district board for emergency approval of $116,000 in contracts.
The agreements to provide training in “culturally responsive coaching,” the superintendent said, needed to be approved within days. But the district's purchasing manager discovered that one contract was for a company that marketed Roberts as a consultant and speaker, sold his books and helped raise his profile, an Associated Press investigation found.
Financial officials warned Roberts that contracting with Kansas City-based Lively Paradox would be a conflict of interest, and Roberts canceled the special board meeting he had requested in September 2023.
Since his arrest last month by immigration agents, the public has grappled with how Roberts became chief inspector for years despite reportedly not being authorized to work in the U.S., having a history of criminal charges and promoting fake IDs.
The AP found that as Roberts' profile in education rose, his connection with Lively Paradox and founder Nicole Price became rewarding at a time when many organizations were championing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The investigation found that tens of thousands of dollars in contracts had been awarded to Price from school districts where Roberts held leadership positions.
The AP reviewed county records, court records and books and marketing materials published by Lively Paradox and Price, who met Roberts in a chance meeting at an airport a decade ago.
Roberts, who remains in federal custody, has defended his outside work as helping transform education. His lawyer declined comment.
Months after Des Moines officials halted its attempt to contract with Lively Paradox, the district paid the firm $6,476 in consulting and travel fees for Price's work facilitating a two-hour team-building exercise during a school board retreat in December 2023, records show. That amount could be approved by Roberts without board approval, a spokesperson said.
Roberts noted in his original resume for the Des Moines position that he was an executive leadership coach at Lively Paradox and had been since the beginning, jumping from one district position to another in four states. Price co-authored two books with Roberts and wrote the foreword for another, promoting him as a former Olympian and inspirational educator known for transforming schools.
“I just think Dr. Roberts is one of the best leaders I've ever met,” Price said in an interview after Roberts' arrest, when he allegedly fled from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and illegally possessed a firearm. “Calm under pressure, leading with empathy, mission-driven and focused and simply able to bring people along.”
When Roberts changed districts, work for Price followed
When Roberts changed jobs, Price and Lively followed Paradox to acquire new clients, the AP found.
Her clientele included various companies and government agencies, according to her curriculum vitae. But for those where Roberts has worked, the school districts she has listed as clients appear to be located exclusively in Kansas and Missouri.
In a 2021 video posted to Instagram, Roberts joined Price to celebrate Lively Paradox's five-year anniversary. She recalled focusing on St. Louis Public Schools for the new company when Roberts served as network superintendent.
“Your district was one of the districts where I thought, 'Okay, I've got to get them as a customer,'” Price said. “But I went through the same RFP process as everyone else.”
Roberts said they made St. Louis, with its district position and Lively Paradox affiliation, one of the first “to take on the work of becoming a culturally responsive district.”
It's unclear how much Price was paid by the district, but records show she received one payment worth thousands of dollars for a presentation in 2017. She also gave a workshop there in February 2018, according to her curriculum vitae.
After Roberts became an administrator at Aspire Public Schools in Oakland, that public school system paid Price at least $8,300 for services, according to a payout report covering part of 2019.
Price taught leadership training at the Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania in 2020 and 2021 while Roberts was superintendent, her curriculum vitae shows.
She said there was no impropriety in her work in Roberts' districts, “simply a longstanding commitment to mission-driven work and empathetic leadership.”
St. Louis Public Schools, Aspire Public Schools and Millcreek Township School District did not respond to requests for comment.
Roberts and Price formed a partnership after an airport meeting
Price recalled that Roberts was “immaculately dressed” when they met at a North Carolina airport in 2014. She then worked at a leadership agency where she focused on diversity and inclusion.
Price credited Roberts with teaching her how education was different from the corporate world in which she had worked. They discussed his idea that educational leaders, instead of firing unproductive subordinates, should give them every opportunity to develop.
Price said they kept in touch. In 2016, she was laid off and founded Lively Paradox, in part to focus on providing training to urban school leaders.
Roberts was with her from the start. In 2017, the two co-authored “The Power of Seven Second Chances,” their take on governing schools with compassion.
They later co-authored “Dangerous Indifference: The Case for Culturally Responsive Leadership,” in which they called on leaders to embrace and understand differences. Price wrote the foreword for Roberts' next book, “Radical Empathy.”
Price said the books, which were self-published and available for purchase online, “didn't really have great sales” because Roberts usually ordered them to give away at conferences.
She said the two have worked closely for years to coach school leaders and transform organizations.
It is unclear how much outside income Roberts received. Lively Paradox advertises a two-day “high performance workshop” for $38,975, keynote presentations for $15,000 and coaching packages for $9,995.
Their partnership continues with Roberts behind bars. Price said on Sept. 29 that Roberts' wife told her to move forward with publishing a book titled “Unshakeable,” a compilation of Roberts' inspirational messages to Des Moines schools.
Price said she knew nothing about his immigration status and was shocked by his arrest.
Roberts flagged for conflict of interest
When he was hired in Des Moines in 2023, board members were aware of Roberts' outside work. His contract, which included an annual salary of $286,716 this year, allowed him to “conduct occasional consulting or speaking engagements, write, lecture or engage in other professional endeavors” with the approval of the board chairman.
The only agenda item for the September 29, 2023 meeting was Roberts' recommendation to award $116,000 to Lively Paradox and another professional development company.
The document said the district evaluated four vendors and Roberts recommended that the two “best met the district's needs.” The costs would come from federal funding intended to improve the performance of school leaders.
District purchasing manager JoAnne Khounlo-Philavanh discovered that Lively Paradox included Roberts as part of its team, district spokesman Phil Roeder said. She and Shashank Aurora, the district's chief financial officer, met with Roberts to discuss the conflict of interest, he said.
Roberts wrote to board members that the meeting was no longer necessary after receiving “another update from the finance team.”
The current board chair, Jackie Norris, was a board member at the time and said district staff told her about the conflict of interest concerns and they were discussed with Roberts. She added: “I strongly believe that a review is needed of all expenditure associated with the former Chief Inspector.”
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Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.
