School's Failure to Act on Harassment: A Tragic Lesson

A tragic event at Owasso Public Schools in Oklahoma sparked a federal investigation. A nonbinary teen, Nex Benedict, died after a school fight, and their family said other students had been bullying them for a while. The US Department of Education (DOE) found that the school district wasn't handling sexual harassment complaints properly. They didn't always respond to reports, which is against Title IX laws that protect students from sex-based discrimination. The DOE's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) started looking into this last March, after Nex's death. They found that the school didn't always follow the rules when dealing with harassment reports. Sometimes, they didn't do anything at all. The OCR also found other cases where the district didn't handle complaints well, like a teacher sending inappropriate messages to students, and a young student being harassed in a sexual way. The school district has agreed to make changes. They'll create new policies and train staff and students better. The superintendent says they'll do what's needed to keep students safe and included. This story is a wake-up call for schools to take harassment seriously and protect all students.