Federal officials will investigate Oklahoma school following nonbinary teenager's death
Federal officials are opening an investigation into the Oklahoma school district where a nonbinary 16-year-old high school student was in a fight before dying last month
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Federal officials are opening an investigation into the Oklahoma school district where a nonbinary 16-year-old high school student was in a fight before dying last month, according to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education on Friday.
Nex Benedict, whose family says the teen was bullied at Owasso High School, died a day after the fight inside a girl's bathroom at the school. According to family, Benedict identified as nonbinary and used they/them pronouns.
The letter revealing the investigation was addressed to the Human Rights Campaign, which had asked the the department to look into Owasso Public Schools and “its failure to respond appropriately to sex-based harassment that may have contributed to the tragic death.”
Police in the Tulsa suburb have not released a cause of death but have previously said that Benedict did not die as a result of injuries from the fight, which happened on Feb. 8.
