A New Jersey school district has agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle a lawsuit by a middle school student who was paralyzed when a bully punched him in the abdomen.

Buzz Aldrin poses for a photo with Sawyer Rosenstein from Ramsey at Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York (Photo by Joe Kohen/Getty Images for Intrepid Museum)
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The Ramsey school district's settlement with Sawyer Rosenstein and his family over the 2006 assault was made public this month.

The family's lawyer says their lawsuit alleged school officials knew or should have known the boy's attacker had violent tendencies  and that they failed to comply with state law.

Three months before being punched, Rosenstein emailed school officials to report he was being bullied.  Rosenstein was paralyzed by a punch that caused a blood clot in an artery that supplies blood to the spine and will need a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

He is now a freshman at Syracuse University.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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