A jury found the El Segundo Unified School District negligent in protecting a teen girl, and ordered the district to pay her $1 million in damages.

The lawsuit, filed in April 2019, alleged that then-middle schooler, Eleri Irons, was viciously bullied by three classmates between November 2017 to June 2018.

One of the students even started a petition called “Let’s Kill Eleri Irons” in June 2018.

The bullying “included verbal harassment, spreading nasty rumors and text messaging vicious comments directly.” It occurred on school grounds and on field trips.

Irons’ attorney, Christa Ramey told the Los Angeles Times that former El Segundo Middle School principal Melissa Gooden was informed of the petition, yet failed to inform the teenager’s parents. This resulted in “significant physical and psychological trauma” for the girl.

Attorney Ramey accused the then principal, Gooden, who is now an executive director of human resources with the district, of lying about calling the police.

“She didn’t call the police that day. She attempted to make it seem like they did everything they could, but in reality, during the entire year, they didn’t do anything,” Ramey said.

Because of the bullying, Irons “suffered PTSD, cut herself and sought refuge in the school nurse’s office nearly every lunch break.” When her parents sought help from the school officials, they attributed the situation to “drama over a teen love triangle.”

The Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found that the school district displayed negligence in training and supervising its workers.

In a statement made to The Post, El Segundo Superintendent Melissa Moore said they “respect the ruling of the court and acknowledge the findings of the lawsuit.”

They have also implemented a district-wide safety plan, which includes recommendations from a third-party safety assessment. Behavior threat assessment training for staff, the use of a website called “We Tip” to report bullying anonymously, safety enhancements at schools, and new safety staff members hope to alleviate the problem. 

Gaggle, a proactive digital safety tool for K-12 school districts, will be used to flag potential bullying occurring online.

Irons, who is now 18, reportedly said through a release that she remains traumatized, but has forgiven her main bully.

“I am so thankful that I have been able to share my experience and to actually be taken seriously so that the next time a child asks for help, the school will address it the way they should have for me,” she said.