International Courant
The Division of Schooling is opening an investigation into Owasso Public Colleges the place pupil Nex Benedict, a member of the 2SLGBTQ neighborhood, bought into an altercation with a number of different college students the day earlier than they died, in response to a letter from the company obtained by ABC Information.
The investigation follows a criticism from the Human Rights Marketing campaign alleging that the district discriminated in opposition to college students by failing to reply appropriately to sexual harassment at Owasso Excessive College in the course of the 2023-2024 college yr.
“Nex’s household, neighborhood and broader 2SLGBTQI+ (two spirit, lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex+) neighborhood in Oklahoma are nonetheless ready for solutions following their tragic loss,” mentioned Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Marketing campaign. . “We respect that the Division of Schooling has responded to our criticism and opened an investigation – we’d like them to take pressing motion in order that there will be justice for Nex, and so that each one college students at Owasso Excessive College and each college in Oklahoma will be secure from harassment. harassment and discrimination.”
On this picture by Malia Pila, Nex Benedict poses exterior the household’s house in Owasso, Oklahoma, in December 2023.
Sue Benedictus by way of AP
Owasso Public Colleges mentioned in an announcement that it had been notified of the investigation.
“The district needs to cooperate with federal officers and believes that the criticism filed by HRC is unsupported by the information and with out benefit,” the assertion mentioned partly.
In an earlier assertion to ABC Information, the district additionally mentioned that the “security and safety of our college students is our prime precedence and we’re dedicated to fostering a secure and inclusive setting for all.”
“Bullying in any type is unacceptable,” the assertion learn. “We take stories of bullying very critically and have insurance policies and procedures in place to deal with such conduct.”
Within the letter, the division famous “that opening the criticism for investigation doesn’t in any manner indicate that OCR has made a dedication as to the deserves of the criticism.”
Anti-LGBTQ bullying and violence have been the main focus of dialogue within the wake of Nex’s demise earlier this month, as Nex Benedict’s household referred to as for motion and solutions concerning the bullying they are saying Nex confronted at college .
“The Benedicts know all too properly the devastating influence of bullying and violence in colleges, and pray for significant change the place bullying is taken critically and no household faces one other preventable tragedy,” the household mentioned by their lawyer in an announcement to ABC Information. .
Authorities are awaiting the complete outcomes of the post-mortem and toxicology stories for additional perception into the circumstances surrounding the teenager’s demise. The state medical expert’s workplace will decide the ultimate trigger and method of demise.
The HRC additionally joined roughly 350 native, state and nationwide organizations in an open letter calling for the quick removing of Superintendent Ryan Walters from workplace for, the letter states, “selling a tradition of violence and hatred in opposition to the 2SLGBTQI+ neighborhood in Oklahoma colleges. “
The letter – which was drafted and distributed on Wednesday by advocacy teams Freedom Oklahoma, GLAAD, Human Rights Marketing campaign and the Homosexual, Lesbian & Straight Schooling Community (GLSEN) – additionally calls for an investigation into the Division of Schooling “to find out what actions and coverage has created a tradition the place rampant harassment of 2SLGBTQI+ college students has been allowed to proceed unchecked.”
In an announcement to ABC Information, Walters referred to as the letter a “commonplace tactic of the novel left, and they’re going to cease at nothing to destroy the nation and our state.”
Walters additional accused critics of participating in a “determined political recreation” aimed toward “exploiting the demise of a younger Oklahoman.” I’ll by no means cease preventing, I can’t play woke gender video games, and I can’t again down from a woke crowd. “
Tesfaye Negussie of ABC Information contributed to this report.
