The student, identified as Jada in prior reporting to protect her identity, said she faced racial slurs, body-shaming and encouragement to kill herself, according to school incident reports and educator emails described in a lawsuit filed by her mother, Sher’Ron Hinton. The records also included one report of unwanted touching. Jada told school employees four times during fifth grade that she had suicidal thoughts.

Hinton sued Chicago Public Schools in July 2025, alleging school staff acted negligently and allowed her daughter to experience race-based bullying, sexual harassment and sexual abuse. The settlement approval resolves the claims for $300,000; the board’s vote was unanimous.

Hinton said she learned the extent of the incidents after her daughter came home in October 2024 and reported that a student had used a racial slur. The district’s Office of Student Protection substantiated that Jada was subjected to racial bullying, and the students involved received in-school suspensions.

After reviewing school records, Hinton said, she asked her daughter whether the reported incidents had happened. Jada confirmed the incidents recorded through seventh grade, Hinton said in a 2025 interview.

Hinton said the experience left her daughter in extreme emotional distress. Jada missed school in the spring to receive intensive mental health treatment, and Hinton transferred her and her four siblings from Wildwood after the school year ended in June 2025. Hinton declined to comment Thursday. CPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the settlement.

In a 2025 statement, CPS defended Wildwood’s handling of incidents involving middle school students, saying school leaders had monitored and supported those involved over the prior two years. The district also said written records do not necessarily capture all of a school’s work or communication with a family. Some parents of students accused by Jada said their children denied the allegations.