A New Jersey school district has agreed to pay $9.1 million to the parents of a sixth grader who died by suicide in 2017, ending a lawsuit that accused administrators of failing to take bullying complaints seriously. Dianne and Seth Grossman sued following the death of their daughter, Mallory, during her first year at Copeland Middle School in Rockaway Township. Mallory had been repeatedly bullied by other students in text and Snapchat messages, and although administrators were routinely contacted about the bullying, the school did not do enough to respond, according to the lawsuit. The factors that contribute to suicide are complex and varied, and the act is rarely attributable to any one thing. But the question of a school’s culpability in cases where administrators made missteps or took insufficient action has become the subject of court cases around the country.

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Persons: Dianne, Seth Grossman, Mallory, Northjersey.com Organizations: Copeland Middle School Locations: Jersey, Rockaway Township