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Angel Harris, center, and her son, Darrius, 5, watch balloons sail away Thursday at the memorial release in Copperhill, Tenn. Nearly 100 people came to the afternoon release to see black and blue colored balloons float away in remembrance of two deceased Copper Basin students that were victims of bullying in Polk County. Friend, Erica Cavender, left, and Angel's father, Haril Harris, second from left, focused on the sky.

A lawsuit filed Friday against the Polk County Board of Education claims the Tennessee school system failed to protect 13-year-old Jazmine Harris from an "ongoing pattern of harassment, assault, and/or bullying."

Jazmine took her own life two weeks ago, and family and friends say the relentless bullying she endured at Copper Basin High School led her to suicide.

Warning signs of bullying Red flags if a child is being bullied and afraid to speak up:

* Grades going down

* Eating habits change

* Sleeping habits changing

* Does not want to go to school

* Stays in her room much longer, watching TV and video games

* Becomes angry, abusive and loud

* Cries a lot

* Gives up on her friends

* Dresses differently

* Avoids after-school activities, wants to be alone

Source: Stop Bullying Now Foundation Inc.

The lawsuit filed by Jazmine's mother, Angel Harris, claims the Polk school board "breached its duty of care owed to [Jazmine,]" and it holds the school system responsible for her injuries and death.

"Nothing, especially money will help us heal," Harris said in an interview Friday. "But this lawsuit helps me know that [Jazmine's] story can raise awareness and help people by bringing change."

She said filing the lawsuit felt like the next needed step in the "huge fight against bullying."

The lawsuit details what it calls the bullying Jazmine endured, and the repeated requests Angel Harris made to Superintendent James Jones and Principal David Turner asking them to address the problem.

Neither Jones nor Turner returned phone calls Friday.

Jones previously told the Times Free Press that any report of bullying made to the school's administration is taken seriously and investigated.

"The results may not be what people think they should be," he said. "But we are not sweeping [bullying] under the rug, that I know of. I'm just saying that if we think and know that bullying is going on, we try to help the situation."

And just this week, Jones wrote in an email to an anti-bullying advocate that the system is working to implement new programs, install a committee and protocols for dealing with bullying, initiate more training and hire a behaviorist for the high school.

School board attorney Scott Bennett said that since the lawsuit has been filed, neither the board, its administrators, its employees, nor he will comment on it.

The Polk County Board of Education has 60 days to respond to the lawsuit, which is filed in Circuit Court under the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act. Harris is seeking the maximum compensation allowed under law, $300,000.

Her attorney, Roland Mumford, from Hendersonville, Tenn., has several lawsuits pending alleging school system negligence in cases of bullying, teacher assaults on students and discrimination against students with disabilities.

Mumford said the school was made aware of the ongoing bullying and appropriate action was not taken to protect Jazmine. He said that makes the Polk County Board of Education negligent under law and deliberately indifferent toward her educational rights, and thus liable for damages.

"There is a deliberate indifference by school directors and principals toward bullying that permeates its way down through the administration to the teachers," Mumford said. "... They don't take bullying seriously."

One of the alleged bullying incidents recorded in the lawsuit took place in April during the school's field day. Jazmine was sitting alone, according to the lawsuit, when two boys came over and told her she was "fat" and "worthless." One of the boys kicked her in the knee.

A statue of an angel sits on the grave of Jazmine Harris, located in the cemetery at the Apostolic New Hope Holiness Church near Ducktown, Tenn., just across the state line in North Carolina.

Harris reported this incident to Jones, who said he and Turner would investigate and handle the problem, according to the lawsuit.

Harris said she never heard back from Jones, but Turner assured her he was investigating the allegation. Within two hours of the investigation beginning, Turner called Harris back saying it was complete, "and that there were no witnesses to corroborate [the] accusation of assault," according to the lawsuit.

A "no contact" order was placed between Jazmine and the boy, and Harris said his parents were never informed about the accusations.

The lawsuit says other teens told Harris the name of the other boy who was there when Jazmine was kicked. The day after her daughter's funeral, the suit says, Harris asked the other boy to confirm whether the incident occurred. He did, the lawsuit says.

The boy also said Turner never questioned him, and he was sure Turner knew he was with the boy who Jazmine said kicked her, according to the lawsuit.

Lowell Levine is founder of the Stop Bullying Now Foundation, an organization that works with the U.S. Department of Education and with schools to build awareness and seek solutions. Levine said he always advises families to file lawsuits in cases like Jazmine's as a way to build awareness and help other kids who may be suffering.

"The reason she committed suicide, and this happens all the time, is [kids] give up," Levine said. "Nobody is listening to the parents, nobody is helping them at the school, and she begins to feel hopeless and she feels helpless."

Harris said she will never forget how her daughter would play with her younger siblings and friends at home, laughing and singing. She also can't forget how Jazmine, even as a teenager, loved to crawl into her grandpa's lap and talk to him.

"Jazmine was so kind, and just loved everyone," Angel Harris said. "She just wanted to be loved in return, and she rarely spoke up about how she was being treated, because every time she did, the bullying at school got worse."

Contact staff writer Kendi Anderson at kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.

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