Feds Close Inquiry Into La Grange 102 Official's Business

LA GRANGE PARK, IL — The federal government on Friday closed its investigation into whether a La Grange School District 102 board member personally gained from a coronavirus testing program in the school system.

The inquiry was into board member Ed Campbell's business, SafeGuard Surveillance.

"We found no evidence of wrongdoing," Justin Burt, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general's office, said in an email to Campbell Friday morning.

In another development, the school district's attorney, Darcy Kriha, said at a board meeting Thursday that Campbell acted legally and ethically in helping the district set up a saliva testing program and then forming a business to market his services to other districts. She spoke during Thursday night's school board meeting and presented a 10-page report.

At least 30 other Illinois districts have contracted with SafeGuard Surveillance for testing programs, she said.

Check District 102 attorney's investigatory report into an alleged conflict of interest involving board Vice President Ed Campbell.

Kriha said the FBI and the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general were investigating the situation because they received a tip from an employee of the Illinois State Board of Education that Campbell, an immunologist, received more than $700,000 in public money from District 102 for surveillance testing.

As of April 30, Kriha said, the district has paid $424,000 for its surveillance testing program. None of that money has gone to Campbell, she said.

She also said Campbell, the board's vice president, has no interest in any of the vendors associated with District 102's program, with one exception, Loyola University Chicago, which received $64,000. Loyola employs Campbell as an associate professor in the department of microbiology and immunology.

While clearing Campbell, Kriha said she understood why other board members had reservations about how he used his board membership to sell his services.

"It is probably fair to say (and reasonable to conclude) that Dr. Campbell and Safeguard benefitted by 'extension' of his D102 board membership. Board members in other school districts probably considered him a 'kindred spirit' because he shared a similarity with them — that of being an elected school board member," Kriha said. "I can certainly understand that this perception might cause some D102 board members discomfort."

But she said the bottom line was that she could find no evidence that he misrepresented any facts to gain business from other school districts.

Early in the fall semester, Campbell volunteered his time to build a testing program at District 102, gaining a lot of media attention as a result.

See related stories:

La Grange 102 Nurse Sent Business Leads To Board Member: Official

Is Pritzker Steering School COVID-19 Testing Contracts To U of I?

In mid-September, Campbell, along with two partners, formed the business to market his services to other districts. He did not tell the other board members about the business until their Oct. 29 meeting. Five board members at Thursday's meeting said they had no idea about the business until the October meeting. The remaining board member took office earlier this month.

Board members Bessie Boyd and Brian Anderson said they were concerned that Campbell did not reveal his business until a month and a half later. And they said Campbell told the board that he would use District 102's testing data for no other purpose. But they said he used the information to help his business.

Campbell did not dispute those assertions. But he said he only used publicly available information that was on the board's website, which was accessible to anyone who was interested. He said none of the data included confidential information about individual cases.

In a March board meeting, Boyd suggested Campbell acted unethically, alleging he built the business through his connections at District 102. Others told her it was improper for her to bring up the issue at a public board meeting. A month later, the board asked for Kriha to investigate the alleged conflict of interest.

In response to Kriha's report, Boyd called for an independent investigation by a law firm that does not regularly serve District 102. Kriha's firm has worked for the district for more than 15 years.

"The appearance of a conflict of interest still remains," Boyd said. "The attorneys work for the board. Perhaps that causes a conflict within the firm because these questions and concerns are being raised from within the board. After reading this report, and not seeing additional information that I personally submitted, I would like to see an independent investigation in terms of a conflict of interest."

According to the report, Burt, the special agent with the U.S. Department of Education, reached out to Boyd after stories about Campbell appeared in Patch on March 23 and the New York Times on March 30. The Times story mentioned Campbell and his work on a testing program at New Trier High School, but did not mention La Grange District 102.

On April 23, Boyd and Kriha met with Burt and FBI agent Todd Rathbun, the report said. Boyd informed Superintendent Kyle Schumacher of the request by federal investigators, which is when it was decided that Kriha would go along as Boyd's counsel, according to the report.

Kriha said she told Boyd that she should not alert the other board members about the investigation.

"At that time, I was unsure of the scope of the request and I thought it prudent to maintain the confidentiality of the situation until I could learn more," Kriha said.

Kriha said she did not mention the investigation during the school board's April 8 closed meeting, which was held to discuss an unrelated employment issue. She said she informed the board in a closed session on April 29, which is when the board asked her to draft an opinion about the alleged conflict of interest.

The investigators, she said, have issued no warrants or subpoenas in their "very informal" inquiry.

"We really believe the investigation is winding down," Kriha told the board Thursday.

Campbell said the investigators recently interviewed him.

"They were really nice," he said. "They were almost apologetic about meeting. They can't really wrap it up without talking to you.

No board members other than Boyd and Anderson expressed an interest in an independent investigation. A number of board members labeled the problem a communications breakdown and urged the district to move forward.

Kriha suggested the board "over-communicate for a while, so everyone feels they are on the same page."