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Chesapeake — Chesapeake police are investigating School Board Chairwoman Victoria Proffitt’s collection of unemployment benefits while serving in her elected role, a search warrant affidavit filed in court shows.
In February, a Chesapeake detective obtained a search warrant for Proffitt’s contracts, documents and pay records from Tidewater Community College, where she had worked as an adjunct math professor since 2015.
In explaining why the search warrant should be granted, Chesapeake Detective T.N. Adams wrote in the affidavit that Proffitt was laid off from her adjunct job at TCC. When applying for unemployment benefits, she “did not report the income she was receiving from the City of Chesapeake,” the detective wrote. On her unemployment benefits claim application, Proffitt said she had been working 30 hours a week for TCC, according to the document filed in Circuit Court in Norfolk, where the main TCC campus is located.
School Board members are paid a stipend of $16,000 each year. As chairwoman, Proffitt is paid an additional $1,000.
No charges have been filed. Chesapeake Public Schools spokesman Richie Babb wrote in email Thursday that the division had no previous information about the investigation.
The Virginian-Pilot reached out to Proffitt for comment by phone, email and text Thursday and Friday, twice sending her a copy of the warrant. She wrote in a text that she had no knowledge of a police search warrant issued to TCC about her employment there, and so couldn’t answer any questions about it.
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The investigation is ongoing, Detective Alison Robare, spokesperson for the Chesapeake Police Department, wrote in an email Thursday.
“Detectives are still actively working on the case and the investigation has not been concluded yet,” Robare wrote.
It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted the investigation. Police took adjunct contracts and pay records from TCC on Feb. 11, the search warrant shows.
To be eligible for unemployment benefits, people must meet a number of qualifications, including a separation qualification, according to the Virginia Employment Commission website. Weekly claims must be filed to receive payments, and eligibility is determined by a variety of factors. The VEC website says you must report all wages earned for any work.
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If gross wages are less than the weekly unemployment benefit, the person can still get the benefits but the amount of gross wages over $50 is deducted from the weekly amount. If the gross wages are the same or more, though, then the person filing is ineligible for benefits that week, according to VEC’s website.
As the pandemic led to shut downs of businesses and schools last March, a record number of Virginians sought unemployment benefits. The state saw a peak in mid-March, but large numbers reported losing work well into the summer.
A former public school educator, Proffitt was first elected to the school board in 2012. She was selected as chairwoman in 2018 and has overseen public meetings as the school district of about 40,000 students navigated the pandemic and board members voted on plans to bring students back to the classroom.
Proffitt has also told The Virginian-Pilot she does accounting, bookkeeping and taxes and owns her own small health and wellness company.
In February, Proffitt announced she would run for commissioner of the revenue in the November election. The current commissioner, Frank King, is retiring. Proffitt is the Republican candidate; Dawn Quick is the Democratic candidate, according to the city registrar office.
Gordon Rago, 757-446-2601, gordon.rago@pilotonline.com
Margaret Matray, 757-222-5216, margaret.matray@pilotonline.com