A former Chesapeake Public Schools employee has resigned amid an investigation into allegations of inappropriate communications with a high school student. The school system says its human resources department opened the inquiry after receiving a report and then looped in both Child Protective Services and the Chesapeake Police Department.
According to WAVY.com, school administration received a report accusing an employee identified in the outlet's reporting as Bruns of inappropriate communications with a high school student. The outlet's reporting also identifies a former Hugo Owens Middle School in-school suspension coordinator named Ozzie Burns, and the student in question previously attended that same middle school — though the dossier does not independently resolve whether Burns and Bruns refer to the same individual. The employee has not worked for Chesapeake Public Schools since October 2025, per the same report, and resigned from the position sometime after that date.
Once the report came in, the school district's human resources department initiated its own investigation into the alleged communications. That same department then reported the matter to both Child Protective Services and the Chesapeake Police Department, the report notes, placing the case in the hands of outside investigators rather than keeping it as an internal personnel matter alone.
Superintendent Addresses Families Directly
Chesapeake Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Doug Brubaker addressed families in a letter responding to information that had been circulating online regarding Ozzie Burns, the article states. In that letter, Brubaker encouraged anyone with concerns about an interaction involving Bruns to contact the Chesapeake Police Department directly rather than rely on secondhand accounts.
The decision to reach out to families suggests the district anticipated the allegations would draw community attention, even as key details remain unconfirmed. The exact date of the resignation, whether it came before or after any investigative findings, and the current status of both the CPS and police inquiries are not addressed in the available reporting.
A Familiar Pattern in Chesapeake Schools
This is not the first time Chesapeake Public Schools has handled an allegation of this kind through a similar process. In 2022, the district placed employee Tyler Ashnault on administrative leave while Child Protective Services and Human Resources investigated alleged inappropriate communications with a student, according to wtkr.com. That case ended with Ashnault's contract being terminated on December 2, 2022, roughly two weeks after he was first sidelined.
Virginia law lays out specific obligations for how such cases involving school personnel are supposed to be handled once a report of suspected child abuse or neglect is made. Under the statutory framework published by law.lis.virginia.gov, a local department's determination of whether such a report is founded or unfounded, along with transmission of that determination to the appropriate state agency and the subject of the investigation, is mandatory and must occur within a specified period without delay.
No information has been released about charges, a timeline for the current investigations, or any response from the former employee. Chesapeake Public Schools has directed community members with information to contact the Chesapeake Police Department at (757) 382-6161.
