La Grange 102 Info May Have Helped Official's Business

LA GRANGE, IL — A La Grange School District 102 employee created a spreadsheet of leads for the school board's vice president, Ed Campbell, who started a saliva testing program.

On Tuesday, the district provided the spreadsheet in response to a Patch request for such documents created by nurse Kelli Kalata. The list included the names of school districts where interest in saliva testing had been shown.

At a board meeting late last month, member Brian Anderson said such a spreadsheet existed, making the case that Campbell used district resources to build his coronavirus testing business.

Last fall, Campbell volunteered his time to set up a testing program in District 102, then created his own company marketing such services to other schools. He entered at least 30 contracts with other districts, the local district says. Campbell said the district was responsible in helping others during a pandemic get the necessary information about saliva testing.

The spreadsheet consists of 10 districts and private schools. One of them was Lyons Township High School. A notation about the high school read, "Not sure if LT is interested, however getting lots of inquir(ies) from parents of why LT does not have the same type of program. Referred (person) to watch Ed's presentations."

Lyons Township did not start a saliva testing program.

In an email to Patch on Monday, Campbell said a number of schools listed on the spreadsheet reached out to him personally. He said he did not recall speaking with others on the list.

He said he certainly remembered Hyde Park Day School, a private school in suburban Northfield. A conversation with that school, he said, "made me feel that I had no choice but to start a company."

At the time, a Hyde Park administrator said his school was closed because teachers needed to come into direct contact with students with special needs, Campbell said. The school was able to open safely with the help of Campbell's company, SafeGuard Surveillance, Campbell said.

Anderson said at the last school board meeting that Campbell should not have waited a month and a half last fall before telling the board he started his company.

In a March board meeting, member Bessie 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.

At a meeting late last month, the school district's attorney said Campbell broke no laws. The next day, federal investigators cleared Campbell.

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.

Here is the spreadsheet in question: