The Oklahoma school district where a transgender student died this year after an altercation in a bathroom violated federal law by mishandling sexual harassment allegations, according to an investigation by the federal Education Department.
The department’s Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation into Owasso Public Schools in March following a complaint from the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization. HRC alleged that the district failed to investigate sex-based harassment that may have contributed to the death of Nex Benedict, 16, a trans student who died Feb. 8, a day after a fight at Owasso High School.
Benedict’s death was ruled a suicide by a medical examiner, and his name became a rallying cry among LGBTQ advocates who argued that state legislation and rhetoric from local officials targeting trans students created an unsafe school environment. Benedict, who used he and they pronouns, told a police officer that the fight in a school bathroom started after he threw water on students who were making fun of him and his friend for what they were wearing. Benedict’s mother, Sue, told the U.K. newspaper The Independent shortly after his death that Benedict had informed her he was bullied because of his gender identity.
After an investigation, the Education Department alleged that Owasso Public Schools “has a practice of handling reports of sexual harassment of students informally and inadequately,” it announced Wednesday, and that it violated Title IX, a federal law that protects against sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools and academic programs.
The department said the district failed to respond to sexual harassment allegations repeatedly over three years, in violation of Title IX regulations that were implemented in 2020. The new regulations require district staff members to explain the process to file Title IX complaints or promptly contact complainants to discuss supportive measures like counseling or schedule changes. The investigation found Owasso Public Schools’ “response to some families’ sexual harassment reports was deliberately indifferent to students’ civil rights.”
The unaddressed sexual harassment allegations included one in which a teacher was alleged to be “grooming female students on social media through sending more than 130 messages to them describing their physical appearance and requesting their photographs,” another in which it was alleged that an elementary school student was “subjected to repeated harassing remarks that were described as sexual in nature” and one in which it was alleged that a male student “repeatedly hit and made unwelcome sexual comments to a female sixth grade student at school and on the school bus.”
Following the Education Department’s investigation, Owasso Public Schools agreed to voluntarily “resolve” the Title XI complaint, though it did not admit to violating federal law.
Jordan Korphage, the district’s director of communications, noted that the voluntary resolution agreement signed by the district states: “This Agreement does not constitute an admission that the District is not in compliance with Title IX and/or the 2020 Title IX regulation,” and “the District does not admit that it knew of acts of harassment in its programs and activities that were so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it deprived any student of access to the educational benefits of opportunities provided by the District.”
In a letter to families Tuesday, Superintendent Margaret Coates did not mention the investigation’s findings regarding Title IX — only that the district was entering into the voluntary agreement “to resolve a Title IX complaint made against the district.”
The voluntary resolution agreement outlines steps the district will take the rest of the school year, including updating and revising policies and procedures and parts of its website.
“While we continue to believe the original complaint made to OCR was based on inaccurate information, OPS understands the importance for the district to remain in compliance with Title IX regulations in regard to policies, procedures, training, and documentation,” Coates said in the letter. “This voluntary resolution agreement reaffirms our dedication to fostering a non-discriminatory and harassment-free environment for all students and ensures the district will continue to receive federal funding which is critical in supporting and serving our students with disabilities, English Language learners, and economically disadvantaged students.”
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said the resolution agreement “leaves no doubt” that Owasso Public Schools “failed Nex Benedict and many other vulnerable students under their care.”
“The evidence shows that officials were well aware of the hostile climate in their schools, yet repeatedly chose indifference and inaction when confronted,” Robinson said in a statement Wednesday. “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 non-binary 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.”
