Federal officials will investigate Oklahoma school following nonbinary teenager’s death
OKLAHOMA CITY — Federal officials are opening an investigation into the Oklahoma school district where a nonbinary 16-year-old high school student had a fight before dying last month, according to a letter sent Friday by the U.S. Department of Education.
Nex Benedict, whose family says the teen was bullied at Owasso High School, died a day after the altercation in the school’s girls’ bathroom. According to the family, Benedict identified as non-binary and used pronouns.
The letter disclosing the investigation was addressed to the Human Rights Campaign, which had asked the department to investigate Owasso Public Schools and “its failure to appropriately respond to sex-based harassment that may have contributed to the tragic dead.”
Police in suburban Tulsa have not released a cause of death but have previously said Benedict did not die as a result of injuries sustained in the fight, which occurred on Feb. 8.
The department’s Office For Civil Rights said it would investigate whether the district “failed to appropriately respond to alleged harassment,” according to the letter, which did not refer to Benedict.
Owasso Public Schools confirmed in a statement that the district had been made aware of the investigation, calling the allegations unsupported and unfounded.
“The district is committed to cooperating with federal officials,” the statement said.
Neither police nor school officials have said what led to the fight. But Benedict’s family has said there was harassment because of the teen’s non-binary identity.
“We appreciate that the Department of Education has responded to our complaint and opened an investigation – we need them to take urgent action so that there can be justice for Nex, and so that all students at Owasso High School and every school in Oklahoma can be safe from harassment. harassment and discrimination,” Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement.
Benedict walked out of the bathroom after the Feb. 7 fight, but was taken to a hospital by their family and sent home that evening. Paramedics were sent to the home the next day for a medical emergency and took Benedict to a hospital emergency room, where they later died, police said.
Benedict’s mother, Sue Benedict, has said the teen suffered bruises all over his face and eyes during the altercation involving a transgender student and three older girls.
The school district has said the students were in the restroom for less than two minutes before the fight was broken up by other students and a staff member.