The mother of a girl who claims teasing at Frick Middle School caused her to become anorexic now says the settlement agreement the two reached with the Pittsburgh Public Schools is unfair.

Identified only as "Mary V." in court records, the woman appeared with her daughter and attorney before U.S. District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose on Wednesday afternoon.

The two agreed to a $55,000 settlement with the district in May to address the claims of harassment and hostile education environment they filed in a lawsuit last year.

However, Mary V. said in court on Wednesday that she felt pressured at the mediation on the case to agree to settle.

"I just don't feel that their settlement was fair. I thought something would change in the school, and it's all about money, and it was never about money," she said. "This little amount of money -- it doesn't matter what this child went through."

The judge repeatedly asked Mary V. if she agreed to the settlement at the time of mediation.

She said that she did, but that she felt hurried during the five-hour mediation session.

She later described the settlement amount as "an insult."

"Given all the facts of the case, we thought the settlement was reasonable," said her attorney, Edward Olds. "Whenever you put a dollar figure on all the suffering that's happened, the parties look at it and say that's demeaning.

"It seemed to be -- the settlement was fair."

Judge Ambrose said she had no choice but to enforce the settlement agreement.

"People agreed to a settlement, and that's binding," she said.

She went on to explain to Mary V. that even had the case gone to trial and resulted in a favorable jury verdict for her, "[district officials] were never going to say, 'we're going to change the policies of the Pittsburgh Public Schools.' "

Judge Ambrose scheduled the hearing to determine how the $55,000 payout would be split between mother and daughter, who were both named as plaintiffs.

"My daughter can have all the money, and I can just have the scar on my public record from the Pittsburgh Public Schools. I want none of that money," Mary V. said.

The plaintiffs asked the judge to make a provision for some of the money, which will be placed in trust until the daughter, identified only as "B.G.," turns 18, to be allocated each year to pay her tuition at a parochial school, where she now attends.

Near the end of the hearing, B.G. raised her hand, as if asking Judge Ambrose to call on her.

When the judge did, the girl spoke to the school district's attorneys.

"Congratulations, because you won the case," she said. "You broke my heart, and I loved going to school. It's not even about the money."

Then she told Judge Ambrose, "I felt they would just give us anything to get us off their backs."

She later expressed regret that because she had to switch from the public schools that she will miss out on Pittsburgh Promise scholarship money.

"If you felt that way, why did you agree to it?" Judge Ambrose asked.

"It was just a dumb mistake," she answered. "Everything I went through for three years -- to settle it in five hours."

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