A Chicago fourth-grader is suffering permanent brain damage following a February suicide attempt, leading his mother to sue Chicago teachers and administrators for allegedly ignoring, and maybe even contributing, to the bullying that pushed him to drastic measures.
Jamari Dent, an 11-year-old special education student, attempted to hang himself with a bed sheet on Feb. 18 and has been hospitalized on a ventilator ever since. Now unable to talk or walk, slight head movements are Jamari’s only means of communication. Jamari “is not the same” and “like a whole, totally different child,” according to his mother, Teirra Black. He is expected to remain at the hospital for at least three more months.
Black filed a 12-count suit Wednesday against the city’s Board of Education, as well as elementary teachers and administrators, seeking an undisclosed amount in damages. She alleges the attempt could have been avoided had officials not “ignored [her] desperate pleas to protect her young son.”
Jamari was first bullied in early 2018 after he was enrolled at Evers Elementary School, where students and teachers, according to the suit, “repeatedly called [him] ‘stupid,’ ‘dumb’ and ‘retarded’ and joked that he would end up at a facility for students with mental disabilities.”
One Evers teacher, listed as a defendant, allegedly encouraged the cruelty, and even called Jamari “dirty” and “nappy-headed.” This teacher allegedly asked if Jamari’s “brillo hair was the reason he couldn’t read,” and went so far as to hit the young boy in February, leading Black to transfer Jamari to Carter G. Woodson Elementary. The transfer just exacerbated the situation.
At Woodson, the suit alleges, Jamari was struck by three teachers on different occasions, leaving subsequent marks that, along with repeated verbal abuse from students and security guards, remained unchecked by the principal, who is accused of “deliberate indifference.”
A group of students reportedly jumped Jamari during class in December, though Black was never contacted by the school. She made a habit of calling CPS officials, as well as the principal, even making an in-person complain to the Board of Education. All of her efforts proved futile.
Jamari’s sister, 9, discovered him hanging from a coat hook, in what is described as the result of longstanding “physical violence, psychological abuse, bullying, harassment, and aggressive behavior.”
The district reportedly enacted “a full investigation” in February, following the “highly concerning” allegations, adding they would hold adult parties accountable if their actions were indeed in violation of CPS’ anti-bullying policy.
Jamari’s case may be one in an “epidemic” of neglect surrounding special-needs students in a particular CPS special ed program, according to Black’s attorney, Jon Erickson. The program is currently overseen by a state-mandated special monitor, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, following the departure of the head of the Chicago Public School’s special education department.
Black started a GoFundMe, currently ongoing, to assist with Jamari’s medical expenses and after-care.
