CHICAGO (WLS) — A lawsuit has been filed with allegations of sexual, verbal and racist abuse at a Chicago elementary school.
A student said she’s been traumatized by classmates and staff, and now her mother is suing.
The alleged incidents stretch across several years at Wildwood IB World Magnet School, 6950 N. Hiawatha Ave., on the city’s Far Northwest Side.
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The alleged victim of abuse was just 10 years old in 5th grade when it started. The lawsuit claims it was so extreme, the young girl became suicidal.
Despite repeated attempts to get the school to improve the situation, attorneys say the abuse continued and even got worse.
My daughter was physically, emotionally and sexually harmed while attending a school that was supposed to protect her
Sherron Hinton, CPS student’s mother
“My daughter didn’t just fall through the cracks, she was placed in them,” mother Sherron Hinton said.
Hinton revealed that her daughter, who is now 13, has endured three years of discrimination and verbal as well as physical abuse from peers and even teachers at Wildwood Elementary School.
“Jenny reports being called fat, ugly, shaped like an egg, and shaped like a football by other students,” said attorney Cass Casper. “Jenny is the only black student in her class. This is racially motivated.”
Her attorneys have initiated a lawsuit against Chicago Public Schools and several individual teachers on behalf of the girl, referred to as “Jenny Doe” in the legal documents.
“The bullying was so extreme that Jenny became suicidal and had to be hospitalized,” attorney Jamaal Buchanan said.
The lawsuit claims “‘Jenny Doe’ was subjected to an escalating campaign of race-based, verbal, sexual, and physical harassment by Wildwood students, misconduct that was reported to, or actually known by Wildwood personnel.”
“My daughter was physically, emotionally and sexually harmed while attending a school that was supposed to protect her,” Hinton said.
In one of the alleged incidents, “Jenny Doe” says one of her teachers rubbed up against her inappropriately, and another teacher allegedly hit her with with a clipboard or a rolled-up paper.
In response, a spokesperson for CPS released a statement saying, “Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is committed to the safety and well-being of our students. The District does not provide comment on pending litigation.”
The alleged victim’s mother said she went to the school for help numerous times, but the abuse continued.
“We didn’t ask for special treatment, just basic protection,” Hinton said. “But even that was too much to expect for a Black child in a white school.”
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