La Grange D102 Broke State Meetings Law: Attorney General

LA GRANGE, IL – The La Grange School District 102 board violated state law when it closed the doors two years ago to discuss an allegation against one of its members, the attorney general says.

In a letter last week, Leah Bartelt, the attorney general's access counselor, said the board had no right to hold a closed session to discuss the allegation of a conflict of interest against member Ed Campbell.

The closed session was April 29, 2021. It was held after member Bessie Boyd publicly raised the issue of Campbell's potential conflict.

In 2020, Campbell, an immunologist, volunteered his services to start a coronavirus testing program in District 102 and later formed a business to market the service to other school districts.

However, Boyd said Campbell used district information in sales presentations to other school boards.

Campbell said he only used publicly available data. He received no money from District 102.

At the time of the April 29 meeting, Campbell was under investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general for the alleged conflict. He was cleared soon after.

In closing its doors, the board cited the exception in the Open Meetings Act that allows closed sessions to discuss lawsuits and matters pending before a court or administrative tribunal.

Through its lawyer, Darcy Kriha, the board argued the FBI should be considered an administrative tribunal because it usually brings charges by convening a grand jury.

The attorney general's office disagreed.

"Investigative agencies are simply not courts, and an investigation is not litigation, as the term is commonly understood," Bartelt wrote in the letter.

The board also said the FBI and Department of Education interviewed the board's attorney and a board member and asked that the discussions remain confidential.

But the attorney general's office said it found no law that would allow the board to honor such a request.

The attorney general asked the board to disclose the verbatim recording and minutes pertaining to the issues involving Campbell.

The attorney general investigated the closed meeting after watchdog Edgar Pal filed a complaint in 2021.

In an emailed response to a Patch inquiry last week, District 102 Superintendent Kyle Schumacher said the board would discuss the attorney general's ruling before deciding whether to release the recording and minutes.

In May 2021, Patch wrote a story inquiring about the legality of the closed meeting. At the time, Ben Silver, an attorney with the Elmhurst-based Citizen Advocacy Center, questioned how the board could close the doors to discuss a conflict of interest allegation against an elected official.

Silver now works for the attorney general's public access counselor.