The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, or OCR, found an Oklahoma school district responsible for multiple violations of the 1972 Title IX civil rights law after an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a 16-year-old nonbinary student who'd been bullied.
As part of a voluntary resolution agreement — directives to remedy the district's failure — the Owasso School District is now required to implement new policies, procedures, and trainings to bring it in compliance with Title IX. The district will now have to follow up with the parents of students affected by harassment to advise them of their rights to file claims of discrimination under Title IX. (As part of the agreement, the district did not admit to wrongdoing or liability.)
As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, Nex Benedict died by suicide February 8, a day after a physical altercation at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma, which he attended, in which three girls allegedly beat him. (Benedict used he/him pronouns.)
Police and media reports stated that Benedict's head was "banged into the floor" during the February 7 incident. Benedict's mother substantiated the reports in an interview with British media outlet the Independent. The school reportedly did not call an ambulance for the teen and he was taken to hospital by his grandmother and was discharged from the hospital later that evening.
After Benedict's death, Kelley Robinson, a queer woman who is the president of the LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, sent a letter to Miguel Cardona, the U.S. education secretary, asking the department to "promptly begin an investigation on the circumstances leading to the death of Nex Benedict."
"Schools have an obligation to provide equal educational opportunities, including safe and affirming learning environments for the well-being of all students. We are deeply concerned about the failure of Owasso High School to address documented instances of bullying, violence, and harassment against Nex, which occurred in earnest over the course of the previous school year and were in violation of Nex's rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972," Robinson's letter stated, in part. "We therefore urge the department to urgently investigate whether Owasso High School unlawfully failed to address the discrimination and harassment to which Nex was subjected."
The department announced its findings November 13 — namely, that the district failed to uphold Benedict's civil rights multiple times and that the district's responses to harassment complaints were "deliberately indifferent to students' civil rights."
There were 15 reports related to the harassment and/or bullying of Benedict, the report found, including from a fellow student.
"Most of the reports listed the type of bullying or harassment that Student A [Benedict] experienced as based on sex or gender," the Department of Education stated. "One report described 'a school environment and culture that promotes bullying and abuse especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ students.' Another report stated that Student A's mother had publicly asserted that Student A had been 'repeatedly subject[ed] to anti-trans bullying.'"
Among the reports cited by the education department was that "during an assembly in the school gymnasium, Student A was sitting with a group of friends when other students began calling the group names such as 'dyke,' 'queer,' and 'fag.' Student A told the other students to 'shut up,'" and that "multiple students called Student A 'faggot,' 'dyke,' and 'queer,' in the cafeteria, auditorium, hallways, and classrooms."
"Students also threw paper balls and water bottles at Student A," the report stated. "Student A's mother told OCR, 'it was getting really, really bad,' toward the end of the fall 2023 semester and that Student A spoke at home about the harassment approximately three times per week. She indicated that Student A did not want to report the harassment to High School personnel but did not expressly state why."
The Benedict family had issued statements in the past through GLAAD, which didn't return a request for comment November 18.
Unrelated violations
The report found Benedict's case wasn't the only Title IX violation in the district. An unnamed teacher in an unrelated incident "sent more than 130 direct messages over social media to three female students."
"Teacher D's messages, which OCR reviewed, referred to such topics as his T-shirt size, students' physical appearance, and Teacher D's requests for student photographs," the report states.
A counselor came forward to state their view that Teacher D was grooming female students; the teacher ended up resigning.
In yet another case, "a very young elementary student" was subjected to "repeated remarks which were sexual in nature and mainly referring to acts of sodomy," according to the report.
Owasso Superintendent Margaret Coates stated that "while we continue to believe the original complaint made to OCR was based on inaccurate information, OPS [Owasso Public Schools] understands the importance for the district to remain in compliance with Title IX regulations in regard to policies, procedures, training, and documentation."
Robinson issued a statement in a news release applauding the investigation's findings.
"Today's resolution agreement from the U.S. Department of Education leaves no doubt: the Owasso School District failed Nex Benedict and many other vulnerable students under their care," Robinson stated.
"The evidence shows that officials were well aware of the hostile climate in their schools, yet repeatedly chose indifference and inaction when confronted," she added. "While no accountability measure can fully heal the grief and anger that Nex's family and this community feels, today, a message has been sent: Trans and nonbinary students have worth. They and all students have rights, regardless of who is in the White House. And they deserve the same access to a quality and safe education — just like every other child in America."
LGBTQ Agenda is an online column that appears weekly. Got a tip on queer news? Contact John Ferrannini at [email protected]
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