(CNN) -- The parents of a 15-year-old Massachusetts high school student who committed suicide after being bullied by her classmates received a nearly quarter-million-dollar settlement, according to documents made public after a months-long attempt to uncover details of the agreement.





The settlement was reached with the town of South Hadley in November of 2010, but it was only made public Tuesday after a reporter successfully sued to gain access to the records.





The reporter, Emily Bazelon from Slate Magazine, filed the public records lawsuit on December 2 with assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union, after first requesting the documents in May.





Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup on Friday ordered the settlement be made public, adding that Bazelon "demonstrated that she, in her role as a news reporter, and the public have a First Amendment right to access the information contained in these settlement documents."





The agreement centers around the case of Phoebe Prince, whose body was found last year hanging in the stairway leading to her family's second-floor apartment.





On the day she died, Prince had endured a torrent of verbal abuse that began at the school library and continued as she walked home from school in tears, according to prosecutors.





Her parents, Anne O'Brien and Jeremy Prince, received the $225,000 settlement sum after filing a complaint with the state's Commission Against Discrimination in 2010, arguing that South Hadley Public Schools failed to address hazing that preceded their daughter's death.





The settlement prohibits Prince's parents from again suing the town over Prince's suicide, but it also binds them to a confidentiality agreement that prevents publicizing details of the agreement.





In a letter written to the Slate reporter on May 9, town officials pointed to a confidentiality clause in the agreement as reason for keeping the record sealed.





"I did not want to violate the trust of the people who entered into it with that confidentiality clause in it," town counsel Edward J. Ryan Jr. told CNN.





Civil rights advocacy groups have since hailed Friday's decision.





"A public document does not become private because the government inserts a confidentiality clause or a nondisclosure clause," said Newman.





According to the court order, public records are defined as "all books, papers, maps, photographs, recorded tapes, financial statements" and other items "made or received by any officer or employee of any agency."
Who paid the settlement? Who was responsible for making the details public? Who were the bullies? What was the settlement amount? When did Prince carry out her suicide? Who tried to keep this under wraps? Who was the reporter who sued the town?
town of South Hadley a reporter her classmates $225,000 last year town officials Emily Bazelon
question: Who paid the settlement?, answer: town of South Hadley | question: Who was responsible for making the details public?, answer: a reporter | question: Who were the bullies?, answer: her classmates | question: What was the settlement amount?, answer: $225,000 | question: When did Prince carry out her suicide?, answer: last year | question: Who tried to keep this under wraps?, answer: town officials | question: Who was the reporter who sued the town?, answer: Emily Bazelon