Lauren Roth
The Virginian-Pilot
©
FOLLOW-UP: Kellam High School teacher tied to escort services resigns (April 10, 2008)
VIRGINIA BEACH
At least eight ads in the Yellow Pages that hawk exotic entertainment by female companions lead callers to numbers belonging to a teacher at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach.
The numbers used to reach Penthouse V.I.P. , Exotic Playmates, Exotic Sinsations, Fantasies, Sweet Pleasures, Party Girls, Oasis Escorts and Delilah’s are all registered in the name of Michelle Droelle, a 33-year-old social studies teacher in her first year in the classroom at Kellam. The ads appear in the 2007 edition of the Verizon Yellow Pages.
Standing outside her Ocean Lakes home after school Tuesday afternoon, Droelle insisted she left the escort business two years ago before she started teaching but neglected to take the phone lines out of her name.
“I didn’t want to do both things at the same time,” Droelle said. “I wanted to be a teacher.”
According to Virginia Beach business license records, Droelle owned Penthouse V.I.P. until August 2006 and ran similar businesses with a variety of names. Droelle said she sold the operation to her former neighbor and partner, Robin Lupton. Lupton registered Penthouse V.I.P. in her name in September 2007.
Lupton said she and Droelle were in business together “for years.” Droelle, she said, is no longer involved with the companies but does continue to write checks for the phone lines. “I give her the cash to cover it,” Lupton said.
School Board chairman Dan Edwards said he might not object to a teacher being connected with an escort service “as long as they had an absolute firewall between their duties as a teacher and this other sideline,” he said.
“At least on the surface, an escort service is only that. I’m not an expert.”
Calls to phone numbers linked to Droelle reach an operator who refers callers to a Web site that features photos of a dozen young women in provocative poses and various states of undress. The operator explains that for $100 cash, one of the “girls” will meet the caller at the location of his choosing and stay for one hour, during which she will strip naked, perform a lap dance and floor show, and provide companionship.
Such acts are legal in Virginia, as long as they take place in private and everyone involved is at least 18.
“What I did before is my personal business,” Droelle said. “I’ve never broken any laws.”
But School Board member Todd Davidson, who is a pastor, said teachers and members of clergy are held to a higher standard. “We have a responsibility to be role models and to be, as best we can, upstanding citizens,” he said.
The school division’s human resources department would not say whether an affiliation with an escort service would be automatic grounds for discipline or termination. In a statement, the department said that any “complaint or allegation of misconduct by an employee would be considered in accordance with established School Board policies.”
It’s not clear whether Droelle violated any policies. Virginia state code says teachers may be disciplined for “immorality” but does not define the term.
School Board member Em Davis, a former school administrator, saw it this way: “What she does on her own time is supposed to be her own business, but it does bother me.”
It bothers Judy Thieman, too. Her daughter takes one of Droelle’s classes. “It’s just not the appropriate type of business background you would want – teaching your kids and spending the day with your kids,” Thieman said. “What kind of influence is that?”
Droelle, visibly upset when speaking outside her home Tuesday, said she recently earned her bachelor’s degree. “I used to dance,” she said. “I put myself through college.”
Droelle said she began teaching last school year at Open Campus High School in Virginia Beach, where older high school students and adults can take flexible courses toward a high school diploma or GED. She accepted a $38,000 teaching position at Kellam in the fall.
Now she expects a backlash could end her teaching career.
“The best thing I can do right now is call and resign my job,” she said.
As of Tuesday evening, the school division said Droelle was still employed.
Dominic Melito, another social studies teacher at Kellam, said he was surprised to hear Droelle could be involved with an escort service. “I find that extremely hard to believe. You wouldn’t think any of this could possibly be true.”
News researcher Jakon Hays contributed to this report.
Joanne Kimberlin, (757) 446-2338, joanne.kimberlin@pilotonline.com
Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com
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Dr. Tabor, I agree with your main point.
However, I would not call them liberal, just narcissistic and naive.
I agree...up to a point
I agree with the previous posters--up to a point. Did ANYone read what I just wrote? Look, no denying that schools have problems, and no denying that kids have 'issues' and difficulties with which to deal. But I will say it again: this teacher--by virtue of her own, indiscriminate actions--put her OWN career at risk. Yes, I'm sure the Pilot (aka 'Downtown Font of Knowledge)could have found better fodder to write about--so, maybe it WAS a slow news day. But, folks--this gal set her own self up for a fall. Nobody did it TO her; she did it to herself. She made poor decisions about a business interest, and now it is affecting her. Know what--?? It's called 'taking responsibility for your own actions.' It's called 'accountability'. Nobody denies this gal isn't smart; she surely is. But she made some poor choices and decisions, and they were not only merely poor decisions, they were ethically highly suspect, less than responsible, and definitely on the fringes of 'respectable'. Heck, at this point--leave the gal alone. She's going to have to start over.
Ding ding ding.... we have a
Ding ding ding.... we have a winner! VVVVVVVV
Submitted by brock5757 on Thu, 04/10/2008 at 5:45 am.
Hey over-excitable parents, I have a tip for you. Everyday when your children are going to school, they are joining gangs, planning crimes or other delinquent activities, learning how to disrespect and objectify women and minorities, and other disgusting things.
You should probably focus on how to parent your children and keep them ouyt of the filth that occurs in schools every single day, rather than what one teacher does in her free time, far away from students.
If you would do your job as parents in your home, you wouldn't have anything to worry about when you send them to school anyhow.
Well...
Now ask yourself this, what if this were a man...
Slow News Day!!!
I agreee with the previous posters. This is just another example of the Virginian Pilot trying to set the moral compass for everyone else. Similar to the art contest and the disqualification of certian pieces. And to all those who are posting that "this is why our kids are bad" and related statements about the "depaivity of society" you need to look at yourselves. My kids are growing up just fine, and from the posts of her students, I am guessing they are too. It is too easy to want teachers to raise your kids. If kids are messed up, it is the parent's fault alone.
To the VP, stick to reporting NEWS and stop trying to impose morality on your readers!
Idiots fly off the hook again
Hey over-excitable parents, I have a tip for you. Everyday when your children are going to school, they are joining gangs, planning crimes or other delinquent activities, learning how to disrespect and objectify women and minorities, and other disgusting things.
You should probably focus on how to parent your children and keep them ouyt of the filth that occurs in schools every single day, rather than what one teacher does in her free time, far away from students.
If you would do your job as parents in your home, you wouldn't have anything to worry about when you send them to school anyhow.
I disagree with markk
Look, my friend, the issue isn't whether it was a slow news day, or whether some junior reporter had an ax to grind. The issue has to do with the discovery that a public school teacher did not fully disclose, nor did she fully divest herself of, a business which has highly questionable moral overtones, and at the very least is very questionable ethically. She's a champ of a gal--she worked hard, ran a business, put herself thru college. But she FAILED to recognize that she cannot--in all good conscience--stand before a group of youngsters with any degree of moral authority as an adult figure. She IS a role-model, whether she (or the kids) recognize that or not. By her indiscriminate actions, she undercut her own position. It's sad that she resigned, and perhaps they can find a position for her in adminstration. But in total, she did the right thing. Time for her to move on...
VBCPS
I am a certified Social Studies teacher who has been rejected 138 times from VBCPS. I have excellent references and no criminal record. I worked in agriculture and sold dictionaries during the summer to pay my way through college. I scored in the 99th percentile in my subject area on the NTE. I called human resources one time to ask what the problem was. They told me everything looked fine, maybe you just need to sell yourself to the principals a little better. Now I know what they mean.
Another quality person ruined by the pilot..
I don't know how to begin! How do you low-life reporters sleep at night? This was a quality woman and Teacher. Her personal affairs are exactily that, "Personal". I think WAVY 10 should do an exclusive on all you sub-journalists, lets see what we find..Sounds like a invasion of privacy huh??? Michelle Droelle is what us non-bottom feeders call a professional. Please joanne, look up the definition..May God have mercy on you, I DON'T...
Dr.
Dr. Tabor, you couldnt have said it any better. If we did extensive background checks on all of our teachers I am sure there would only be about 25% remaining. The only reason this is a popular story is because it appeals to the 18-65 yr old male demographic trying to see if they can get a peek at this teacher. Poor woman. Maybe some business owner out there can give her a good job so she can continue on the right track.