Biden Department of Education to probe Oklahoma school after Nex Benedict's death

US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched an investigation this week into the Owasso High School in Oklahoma after receiving a letter from the Human Rights Council (HRC) alleging the school "failed to respond appropriately to sex-based harassment," in the wake of 16-year-old Nex Benedicts death.

In a letter to HRC, OCR acting regional director Karen E. Mines wrote the organization investigating "Whether the District failed to appropriately respond to alleged harassment of students in a manner consistent with the requirements of Title IX."

The organization was also looking into "Whether the District failed to appropriately respond to alleged harassment of students in a manner consistent with the requirements of Section 504 and Title II."

The complaint stems from an incident a the school where Dagny Benedict, known as Nex, got into a fight with three younger girls in the bathroom. Benedict was taken and treated at the hospital, released, then died the next day. The cause of death has not been determined. 

In the Feb. 21 complaint to the OCR, HRC president Kelley Robinson alleged, "Nex’s death is the natural consequence of a growing wave of hatred against LGBTQ+ people." She added, "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."

On the same day that the HRC filed its complaint with the OCR, Owasso Police concluded that Benedict's death "was not related to their injuries after the physical altercation at the school." In a statement, the police said, "While the investigation continues into the altercation. Preliminary information from the medical examiner’s office is that a complete autopsy was performed and indicated that the decedent did not die as a result of trauma. At this time, any further comments on the cause of death are currently pending until toxicology results and other ancillary testing results are received. The official autopsy report will be available at a later date."

In an interview with Benedict at the hospital, bodycam footage revealed that the 16-year-old did not know the girls in the altercation. "I don't know these girls," Benedict said.

Describing the the altercation to the officer, Benedict said, "We went to the bathroom," she was talking to her friends and the other group of girls were talking to each other. "And we were laughing, and they had said something like 'Why do they laugh like that?' And they were talking about us in front of us. And so I went up there and I poured water on them and then all three of them came at me."

Letter DOE by Tommy on Scribd