On Wednesday, November 13, the US Department of Education announced that Owasso Public Schools in Oklahoma were found in violation of Title IX, by failing to address pervasive harassment and creating a hostile school environment, following the death of trans teen Nex Benedict. A federal investigation was launched after the teenager died by suicide earlier this year.

Nex Benedict, a transgender student of Choctaw heritage, had reportedly been bullied since 2023. On February 7, they were allegedly assaulted by three older female students in the girls’ bathroom of their school, suffering head injuries which were examined at the Bailey Medical Center in Tulsa County, where they also spoke to a police school resource officer before being discharged.

The following day, Nex collapsed in their living room and was rushed back to hospital where they were declared dead. An autopsy later revealed that the teen died by suicide.

The federal investigation into the school district, undertaken by the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), was announced on Friday, March 1. It came after a formal complaint from Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Kelley Robinson, who alleged that the Oklahoma school district “discriminated against students by failing to respond appropriately to sex-based harassment, of which it had notice.”

According to the OCR, their investigation found “repeated instances over a three-year period in which district staff received notice of possible sexual harassment, yet district staff did not explain the process for filing a Title IX complaint or promptly contact a complainant.”

The investigation described the school district’s response to harassment as “deliberately indifferent”, finding a pattern of negligence in handling reports and offering support. Moreover, the OCR found several instances of anti-LGBTQ+ bullying that the school failed to address appropriately.

In one instance, a non-binary student faced frequent homophobic slurs in hallways, classrooms and cafeterias, with episodes of students throwing objects at them. After the mother reported such harassment multiple times, she said no action was taken and the family wasn’t informed about their right to file a Title IX complaint.

Even after Nex Benedict’s death, the school district still failed to properly address the hostile school environment and take appropriate steps to implement Title IX regulations, the investigation found.

“As a result, OCR found that the district’s pattern of inconsistent responses to reports it received of sexual harassment – infrequently responding under Title IX or not responding at all – rose to the level that the district’s response to some families’ sexual harassment reports was deliberately indifferent to students’ civil rights,” the OCR’s statement read.

Following the investigation, Owasso Public Schools “entered into an agreement to remedy violations of Title IX” concerning sex-based harassment as part of a federal resolution. According to this agreement, the district must overhaul its Title IX policies, provide training on reporting and preventing harassment, and undergo federal monitoring to ensure compliance.

Moreover, the resolution requires schools to inform parents of affected students about the process for filing a Title IX complaint and offer supportive measures to students.