(map via NOPD)
Two students at the school in the 1400 block of Napoleon Avenue had gotten into a fight on Monday, May 1, and their parents were called in to pick the children up, said Lt. Kendrick Allen of the NOPD Second District. The mother who got there first tried to wait for the family of the other child, but school officials brought them in a different entrance and averted a direct confrontation, Allen said.
The mother then drew out a pocket knife and began swinging it around, and ultimately cut one of the teachers at the school who was trying to stop her, Allen said.
“She intentionally cut the teacher,” Allen said at the Second District’s weekly meeting of ranking officers on Tuesday afternoon. “It was a superficial cut, but still it broke the skin.”
The woman left the school and would not answer police officers who sought to make contact with her, Allen said, so a warrant has been issued for her arrest on the charge of aggravated battery by cutting. Her child will also be charged with battery in connection with the original fight, Allen noted.
The incident surprised administrators at the school, where disciplinary incidents are rare, said Principal Sharon L. Clark. Sophie B. Wright — which this year earned a B rating on its state-issued School Performance Score — reported no expulsions and few suspensions in either the 2013-14 or 2014-15 school years, according to the most recent edition of the New Orleans Parents Guide to Public Schools.
“The school followed the rules and contacted the police,” Clark said. “The incident happened outside the school as the students were going home with their parents. The coach stepped in to help and was cut. So much for being a good citizen!”
The name of the parent facing the charge was not immediately available Tuesday afternoon.
This is insanity! I hope this woman is sent to jail and her child is sent to a competent reform school. It is the only hope the child has for any kind of future.