The U.S. Department of Education stated on Friday that it had opened an investigation into the Oklahoma faculty district the place a 16-year-old scholar, Nex Benedict, died a day after an altercation inside a highschool lavatory.
The division stated in a letter on Friday that it was investigating whether or not Owasso Public Schools, exterior Tulsa, had “failed to appropriately respond to alleged harassment of students” in violation of federal regulation, together with Title IX. It stated the investigation was in response to a grievance introduced by the Human Rights Campaign, an L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group.
The dying of Nex, an Owasso High School sophomore who was nonbinary, drew nationwide consideration after homosexual and transgender rights teams stated Nex had been bullied at college due to their gender identification. Nex used they and them pronouns in addition to he and him pronouns, mates stated.
After the altercation, Nex spoke to a police officer at a neighborhood hospital and, based on a video of the interview launched by the Owasso Police Department, described pouring water on three women who had been selecting on Nex and Nex’s mates for the way in which they dressed. The women then attacked and fought with Nex, who informed the police officer that they fell to the bottom and “blacked out” at one level.
The subsequent day, Nex’s grandmother and guardian referred to as for an ambulance to hurry Nex again to the hospital, the place they had been pronounced useless.
The reason behind Nex’s dying stays underneath investigation by the state health worker. The Police Department stated in a press release final month that the dying was not the results of trauma, however has not elaborated.
Nex’s dying introduced scrutiny to Oklahoma’s restrictive legal guidelines and insurance policies for L.G.B.T.Q. college students and to the bullying that members of the family and mates stated Nex had suffered at college.
Karen E. Mines, an performing regional director with the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, stated within the letter that the opening of an investigation “in no way implies that O.C.R. has made a determination on the merits of the complaint.”
In a press release, the college district stated that it was “committed to cooperating with federal officials” and that it “believes the complaint submitted by H.R.C. is not supported by the facts and is without merit.”
The Human Rights Campaign’s president, Kelley Robinson, stated, “We need them to act urgently so there can be justice for Nex, and so that all students at Owasso High School and every school in Oklahoma can be safe from bullying, harassment and discrimination.”
At a vigil for Nex final month, Robin Ingersoll, a 16-year-old sophomore and buddy of Nex at Owasso High School, stated that Nex recognized as transgender and that L.G.B.T.Q. college students had struggled to search out acceptance of their nook of Oklahoma.
“In Owasso, it’s worse than the bullying,” Robin stated. “We could all learn more acceptance of others, and be better so something like this doesn’t happen again. We could all grow for Nex.”
Ben Fenwick contributed reporting from Owasso, Okla.
