Bullied Twins Receive $45K From Point Pleasant Schools

POINT PLEASANT, NJ — Twin sisters from Point Pleasant whose parents say they have been relentlessly bullied by schoolmates since they were in sixth grade have received a $45,000 lawsuit settlement from the Point Pleasant School District.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed in September 2024, the bullying began in October 2020 and has continued in spite of more than a dozen reports to the district's administration, which was named in the lawsuit and accused of failing to thoroughly investigate the instances and failing to take action to stop it.

In one instance, one sister was told she was "so fat (she) might as well kill herself," while the other was told, "I hope you die," according to the lawsuit.

The bullying was so intense both girls began self-harming and spent time in in-patient treatment, according to the lawsuit. They were homeschooled for a time, but as soon as they returned to school for the 2024-25 school year the harassment resumed, the lawsuit said.

The settlement was approved in March by the Point Pleasant Board of Education, according to Transparencynj.com.

"The District takes all allegations of harassment, intimidation, and bullying seriously and is committed to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment for all students," Superintendent Adam Angelozzi said in an emailed statement. "The District follows all applicable state statutes, regulations, and Board policies governing the reporting, investigation, and resolution of harassment, intimidation, and bullying complaints."

According to the lawsuit, the bullying included one student signing into the school account of one of the sisters and pretending to be that sister to harass both, and that student is repeatedly mentioned by initials in the lawsuit as bullying the twins or encouraging others to do so.

The student used Snapchat messages, text messages and verbal communication, the lawsuit alleges, including prank phone calls to one of the twins telling her she should take her own life.

The girl was taken to the emergency room in February 2021 due to self-harm that the lawsuit says resulted from the student's relentless bullying. She then went into an intensive outpatient treatment program for suicidal ideation and self-harm for three months, the lawsuit says.When the Point Pleasant schools resumed in-person instruction in April 2021, as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions started to ease, the bullying resumed with other sixth-grade girls saying "Oh, look, it's (the girl), th fat one."

The student accused of signing into the sister's school account accused the sisters "of following her around and posted derogatory comments about them to portray herself as a victim, gain sympathy from other students, and create hostility," the lawsuit alleges, and when the twins reported it, two other students began harassing them in retaliation.

In the fall of 2021, the sisters were followed into the bathroom by a group that included the original bully and their photos posted on Snapchat with comments indicating the sisters were hated, including a group chat titled "I Hate The Twins," that the lawsuit says included images of knives and guns.

Friends of the sisters ended the friendship to become friends with the bully group, the lawsuit said.

Some of the harassment was other students screaming in the twins' faces in the hallways at school, some of it was prank calls to the sister who had been in therapy, asking how she was feeling derisively, the lawsuit says.

At one point the father of the student who is accused of leading much of the bullying texted the twins' father, saying the twin "better watch herself." The bully had accused the twin of flipping her off, the lawsuit said.

The other sister was admitted to an intensive outpatient psychiatric program as well for treatment of self-harm and severe depression, and both girls were removed from school from February to May 2021 and from April 2022 to September 2022 and homeschooled to prevent them from being subjected to bullying, the lawsuit says.

After they returned to school, the prank calls resumed and "a plate containing text proclaiming hate for of one the (twins) was found smashed into pieces less than half of a mile away from Ocean Road Elementary School," the lawsuit said.

When they returned to school for the 2024-2025 school year the bullying resumed with the sisters being "added to a group chat by one of their harassers in which an embarrassing video of (one sister) from several years prior was shared with a group of male students" from the twins' grade that led to harassment in the hallways, the lawsuit said.

"The harm to Plaintiffs is ongoing," the lawsuit said.

Of the $45,000 settlement, $37,121.25 was to be paid to the family and $7,878.75 to their attorney.

It was not known whether the sisters are still attending Point Pleasant Boro schools or have withdrawn.