The following statement was issued this afternoon on behalf of the Board of School Directors of the Millcreek Township School District.
Members of the MTSD Community—
As with many of you, we are incensed by the progression of media reports that have been revealed in recent days regarding former Superintendent Ian Roberts.
Specifically, we are most disappointed to learn about his lack of citizenship and educational credentialing, as Roberts represented to the District that he was a U.S. citizen and that he had earned a Doctorate in Education. Additionally, although the District received clearances regarding Roberts (including the completed FBI criminal history report) before his first date of employment, there was no indication of any criminal history which the District could lawfully consider as part of the hiring process. The egregious breach of trust that was perpetrated by Roberts, who we hired to lead our schools, is unconscionable.
As such, we are now taking proactive steps to hold accountable the individuals who misled us as outlined below:
- We have directed our Solicitors to contact the appropriate governmental authorities and to provide them with the documents Ian Roberts supplied to the District for employment verification, as we now believe them to be either fabricated or false.
- We have instructed our Solicitors to determine whether the District has any claims against Roberts as a result of his fraudulent misrepresentations, and if so, to aggressively pursue them.
- We are actively evaluating potential litigation against the search firm Ray & Associates, Inc. This firm was hired, through contract, to provide services relating to the recruitment of Superintendent candidates, specifically including, to “provide the Board with criminal, civil litigation, social security, motor vehicle record checks and verification of educational degrees for the top (2-3) candidates”. This clause of their agreement was clearly not upheld.
- We will be discussing and voting on moving forward with potential litigation, as outlined above, in a special Personnel Committee meeting and subsequent Special School Board meeting on Monday, October 6th at 6:00pm at the Millcreek Education Center.
We understand that we once welcomed Ian Roberts into our District with open arms. However, now we have realized that we were profoundly misled in a way that undermines the very foundation of integrity upon which our District prides itself. As we move forward, we will work to uphold that integrity and be models for our students, our families, and our communities.
The students, families and staff of the Millcreek Township School District deserve to be led by officials with the highest level of qualification and integrity. We are fortunate to have the leadership team and Board that is currently in place, and we are confident that, as a community, we will overcome this challenge, together.
Regards,
Millcreek Township School District Board of School Directors
