No Answer From La Grange 102 Leader On Controversial Issue

LA GRANGE, IL — It's unclear what the superintendent of La Grange School District 102 knew about a board member's business providing saliva screening for other school districts. The member's critics have said he used his connections with the local district to help his business.

At a meeting in late May, Darcy Kriha, the district's longtime attorney, said member Ed Campbell broke no laws as a member in relation to his new business, SafeGuard Surveillance LLC. The next day, federal investigators also cleared Campbell.

However, board members Bessie Boyd and Brian Anderson have suggested Campbell used school resources to build his business.

At the May meeting, Campbell, an immunologist, was questioned why he did not tell the board about his business until the Oct. 29 meeting, 1½ months after he formed it. All the board members said they were unaware of it until the October session.

In her original legal opinion, Kriha used a question-and-answer format for issues involving Campbell. One of the questions: "Did any employee or board of education member of D102 know that Dr. Campbell incorporated Safeguard prior to the board meeting held on October 29, 20(20)?"

She stated no board members did and that the opinion would be updated with staff information. She followed up late last week.

In her update, Kriha said both Schumacher and school nurse Kelli Kalata said they were aware that Campbell helped District 102 and other school districts implement saliva screenings, but "neither recalls exactly when they were first made aware." Kriha said she could find no other employees who were aware before Oct. 29.

It is unsurprising that Schumacher and Kalata knew about Campbell's efforts to help the district with saliva screening. The district then proceeded to enter agreements with two nearby districts to use District 102's lab. All of this was well known in the community.

However, Kriha's updated opinion did not answer her own question — whether the superintendent, Kalata or other staff knew about SafeGuard before the Oct. 29 meeting.

In an interview, Kriha said she should have added a sentence that Schumacher and Kalata did not know when they found out about SafeGuard.

"That time of year was busy and fluid for personnel," Kriha said, referring to the pandemic.

Campbell, Schumacher and board President Mike Melendez couldn't be reached for comment.

In an interview, Boyd, the first board member to bring up concerns about Campbell's business, said she believes the district should have conducted an independent investigation, rather than one by the district's regular attorney.

In a March board meeting, Boyd expressed concern that Campbell used information from the district's saliva testing program to help his business, opening the door to multi-million-dollar contracts.

The school board's majority has stood behind Campbell.

Campbell's defenders have decried the coverage of the issue in Patch, saying the news outlet should have stopped writing about what they see as a non-story. They said Campbell helped the district during a desperate time.