Kellam High School teacher tied to escort services resigns
A social studies teacher resigned her position Wednesday as new information surfaced that shows she was involved with operating an escort service while on staff at Kellam High School.
One day earlier, Michelle Droelle told The Virginian-Pilot she got out of the business before she began teaching two years ago. But The Pilot has discovered escort service ad contracts signed by Droelle during the current school year – including one dated March 12, 2008.
Droelle, 33, voluntarily resigned, school officials said.
The contracts for phone book ads list Droelle as the owner of Penthouse V.I.P. and her home address in Ocean Lakes as the company’s location.
Penthouse V.I.P. is the umbrella for an operation that runs ads under at least 20 different names, such as Exotic Playmates, Sinful Seductions and Party Girls.
Droelle did not return calls Wednesday to her home or business. Her lawyer, Mike Joynes, said that “pursuant to an agreement with the School Board, Michelle can’t have any comment.”
However, the school division denies requiring her silence.
“She chose to resign,” spokeswoman Eileen Cox said. “We don’t have any conditions on her resignation.”
As of Tuesday, Droelle still managed the businesses on a day-to-day basis, according to several women who said they have worked recently for the escort service.
One dancer, who appears on the Web site of Penthouse V.I.P. but requested that her name not be used in this article, said she has worked for Droelle for more than a year. She said that once Droelle took the teaching job at Kellam, she tried to keep a lower profile in the company – avoiding the weekly meetings where the dancers settle up their accounts with the service and collect their paychecks, signed by Droelle.
“Michelle didn’t want the newer girls to see her so she stopped coming to the meetings for a while,” the woman said. “But then she started coming again. I saw her at one in the past month.”
The contracts, from 2006 through 2008, are for ads in The Talking Phone Book, Verizon Yellow Pages and Yellow Book USA. Penthouse V.I.P. spent more than $50,000 on ads in 2007 alone, according to the contracts.
The phone book ads, often featuring scantily clad women, appeared in South Hampton Roads and Peninsula editions. Phone numbers for at least eight of the escort service names also are registered in Droelle’s name.
Calls to Penthouse V.I.P. and its affiliates are answered by an operator who sets up appointments and explains that for $100, the “girls” will strip fully nude, perform lap dances and provide companionship for one hour. Such acts are legal in Virginia as long as they take place in private and everyone involved is at least 18.
The company’s Web site features provocative photos of a dozen young women and a list of services, including “1-on-1 encounters … fetishes … light domination.”
Last school year, Droelle was on staff at the Virginia Beach City Public School ’s Open Campus High School. She began working at Kellam High School in September, teaching world history and sociology courses.
Droelle had not informed the school division that she had another line of work, Cox said.
Before they are hired, all employees are run though FBI and State Police databases, according to the school division’s human resources department. Those background checks do not include business licenses.
School Board Chairman Dan Edwards said there is no need for further investigation because Droelle resigned.
“I think the subject is closed,” he said.
News researcher Jakon Hays contributed to this report.
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