Posted on 04/11/2008 12:48:24 PM PDT by Snickering Hound
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 Delilahs 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 didnt 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. Im 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. Ive 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 divisions 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.
Its 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 Droelles classes. Its 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 bachelors 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 wouldnt think any of this could possibly be true.
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.
Riiight. Sure. OK.
Public education. Prostitute = ok. Republican = not good.
Must have pics to assuage guilt.....er, uh, to asses guilt.......
And this statement takes the cake.
I need to see some pictures before I can weigh in on this.
Innocent... or Guilty? YOU MAKE THE CALL -- !!! ;)
I went to Keellam for my Sophmore year...none of my teachers were nearly this interesting. What’s going on with female teacher’s lately???
I’m sure the thought of recruiting girls from the school never entered her mind.
Keellam = Kellam. duh
Don’t know about innnocent or guilty, but definitely HOT!!
(WHere the hell were these teachers when I was in school?)
Most of mine looked like Helen Thomas.
GUILTY ... and I would bet / speculate she had plans / designs on recruiting senior girls that wanted to make some fast money.
GUILTY!
Please let this be an elective position.
Without anything else to go on I’d have to say guilty.
So did mine; and the women were even UGLIER -- !!! [::rimshot::] ;)
Lynn Lovelace.
ISYN.
L
(WHere the hell were these teachers when I was in school?)
Most of mine looked like Helen Thomas.
—
I hate to admit it but with the exception of a very few, most of the gal teachers for me were in the frumpish vein and wore the support hose to prove it.. ;-)
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