Bossier Schools Employee Arrested, Accused of Hitting Special Needs Student

Detectives from the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office have arrested Nicole Pope, a classroom assistant with Bossier Parish Schools.

Pope, currently assigned to Bossier City's Kingston Elementary summer program, was taken into custody Tuesday after the Sheriff's Office received reports that the education paraprofessional had struck a student.

According to the Sheriff's Office Pope was arrested for "battery on a special needs student."

Sheriff's detectives said they had received information that Pope had been spotted by another Bossier School employee striking a student while on the job. School administrators were alerted and an investigation began.

According to the Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office news release, the 42-year-old Pope "was arrested and booked into the Bossier-Maximum Security Facility on two counts of Cruelty to The Infirmed."

Pope's bond is set at $50,000.

The arrest of Pope is the second school-related police matter in the area in the last week. On July 7 a Caddo Parish School Board employee was arrested for forgery, after a law enforcement investigation into the illegal sale of fake diplomas and transcripts.

According to a previous KEEL News report, the Caddo-Shreveport Financial Crimes Task Force received a report back in September 2019 from Caddo Parish Schools. The report made claims that there were individuals illegally purchasing forged diplomas and grade transcripts from an employee of the Caddo Parish School Board.

Caddo Sheriff’s Detective Clarissa Harris’ investigation identified Latoya Mosby, 39, was the school board employee involved.

The Office of Inspector General Department of Education assisted in the investigation and discovered people used the fraudulent documents to enroll in secondary schools and receive about $482,211 in financial aid.

Mosby was arrested at her home on July 7. She was booked into the Caddo Correctional Center and was charged with forgery. She has since been released on bond.