Education Department To Investigate School District After Nex Benedict's Death
HuffPost
The 16-year-old transgender student died last month after being beaten at his Oklahoma high school, raising concerns about the safety of LGBTQ+ students.
The U.S. Department of Education is opening an investigation into whether the Oklahoma school district where a 16-year-old transgender student, Nex Benedict, died after a fight in a high school restroom, failed to respond appropriately to sex-based harassment, according to a letter addressed to the Human Rights Campaign.
The Human Rights Campaign, one of the country’s largest LGBTQ+ rights groups, filed complaints with the Department of Education and the Department of Justice following Benedict’s death on Feb. 8.
Benedict died one day after a fight with three other Owasso High School students, putting a spotlight on the culture of fear and harassment facing LGBTQ+ students in Oklahoma and beyond.
“This letter is to notify you that the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), is opening for investigation the above-referenced complaint that you filed against the Owasso Public Schools (the District),” wrote Karen Mines, the Education Department’s regional director, in a letter to the HRC. “Your complaint alleges that the District discriminated against students by failing to respond appropriately to sex-based harassment, of which it had notice, at Owasso High School during the 2023-2024 school year.”
The letter also notes that the Office for Civil Rights will investigate whether the district failed to follow Title IX guidelines when responding to sex-based harassment. Current Title IX law includes language that protects transgender students in any school or educational program that receives federal funding.
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