Holmdel High: Teen's Absence To Visit White House Was Excused

HOLMDEL, NJ — Update: Kizeko did get back to Patch after we published this article and said when he first asked his principal for the day off, he was not given a clear answer. He said it was only after his FOX news interview aired Friday morning that Holmdel let him know his absence was officially excused.

Boris Kizenko, the 16-year-old Holmdel High school junior who claims he was excluded from the National Honor Society for supporting President Trump — and was then invited to the Trump White House this week — has been making the media rounds.

But Holmdel High takes issue with something Kizenko told the hosts of Fox & Friends Friday morning: That his absence to meet the President was not permitted by his high school.

"Because you went to the White House on a school day, you had to get permission from the school, and they denied you, right?" Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy asked Boris Friday morning, sounding incredulous.

"Right," replied the teenager. "To go to the White House. You know, the entire class at the end of the year, they get to go to Six Flags, but the Trump administration that's not a, uh .... excused absence."

That's simply not true, the superintendent of Holmdel schools, Robert McGarry, said Friday afternoon.

"That statement is not correct," said the Holmdel school district in a statement released widely to the media. "Upon learning of the invitation to attend a White House event, the student made a request of the high school principal on Wednesday, March 20. Holmdel High Principal Brian Schillaci approved the request for an excused absence and communicated the approval to the student prior to the visit."

“I was pleased to be able to recognize this learning opportunity and approve the day for this student,” principal Schillaci said in a statement. “There was no question in my mind that this should be approved.”

Watch today's Fox & Friends clip (his school absence is discussed at the very end):

Kizenko did not immediately reply when asked by Patch why he told Fox News his school did not approve the absence. But then he did get back to Patch and said when he first asked his principal for the day off, he was not given a clear answer. He said it was only after his FOX news interview aired Friday morning that Holmdel let him know his absence was officially excused.

Kizenko also said it was his principal and others who deliberately kept him out of the National Honor Society for supporting Trump.

That's also not true, the Holmdel superintendent said, maintaining that a student's political affiliation is never a factor into whether or not they are accepted into the National Honor Society. But McGarry also declined to comment further about Kizenko, saying he was barred by privacy laws from discussing a student's disciplinary history.

The teen previously said staff at Holmdel High told him he wasn't admitted due to a "character" issue.

He visited the White House on March 21

Kizenko visited the White House Thursday, March 21 to hear President Trump give an address about higher education. A White House official confirmed that Kizenko was indeed invited to Thursday's event.

Kizenko first went public with his assertion that he was denied admission to the National Honor Society back in January of this year. The story quickly went viral and since then, he's spoken to dozens of media outlets, including NJ 101.5, Fox and Patch. Since then, the teen has also gotten heavily involved in Turning Point USA, a conservative political organization. But he never thought he'd be invited to meet Trump personally.

"I was actually out on a date with a girl, and I got a text from a friend who's also in Turning Point. He's the chapter president for Turning Point USA at Rider University," Kizenko told Patch on Monday of this week, before he went. "He said he was invited to the White House Thursday, as well, and he said check your spam folder, maybe I was invited, too. Sure enough, I checked, and there was an invitation to the White House."

Kizenko said he, understandably, jumped at the chance.

"I just hope Holmdel will count this as an excused absence," said Kizenko said Monday. "Kids get to go to Six Flags and miss a day at school so ..."

Trump gave an address about the importance of freedom of speech on college campuses.

"I hope what he's saying will trickle down to the high school level. When you're young, it's important to be able to express and formulate your ideas yourself, instead of getting the regurgitated left-wing ideology that we often see in schools," said Kizenko. "After I got all this media attention, I started meeting students all over the country who had gone through something similar. Someone in Arizona reached out to me and said they were suspended for 10 days for wearing a MAGA sweatshirt on 'Party in the USA Day' at their high school."

Two known clashes with Holmdel High administration

As Patch reported, Kizenko has clashed with Holmdel High administration at least two times: The first was last year when, as sophomore class president, he was told by a teacher to take down an inspirational quote he had posted on the school's Instagram account. The quote accompanied a photo of Trump and read: "If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big."
Even though he posted quotes every day "from Marcus Aurelius to Yoda to Drake," Kizenko said the teacher made him take the post down and then took away his social media authority.

"(They) demanded my password ... They told me that I was being a 'monarch' in the Student Council and said that (quote) doesn't represent the ideals of the class," Kizenko told NJ 101.5.

He said he appealed the teacher's decision, which resulted in a "conduct report" being filed on him.

Then when he ran for reelection last year, to keep his position as class president, Kizenko made T-shirts and hats that read "Make Holmdel Great Again." He said school administration reprimanded him for it, calling the shirts "propaganda." (He did not win the reelection bid.)

Those are the two incidents that Kizenko said Holmdel High principal Schillaci told him were the reason why he was not admitted into the National Honor Society.

The teenager declined to comment further when Patch asked if he had ever had any other disciplinary issues at the school before.

"The principal said that making the 'Make Holmdel Great Again' shirts and posting the Trump quote was indicative of a character and leadership flaw on my part," Kizenko told Patch. "I will not be commenting further on this issue."

The superintendent of Holmdel public schools, McGarry, disagrees with Kizenko's take on the situation.

He said a student's political affiliation is never a factor into whether or not they are accepted into the National Honor Society. Students apply via this website, and faculty at Holmdel High make the determination into whether they are ultimately accepted. Criteria includes having at least a 3.66 GPA, "a determination of character, being a student in good standing and demonstrated leadership," as well as community service hours.

McGarry said he was barred by privacy laws from discussing a student's disciplinary history, and could not comment any further.

Teen empathizes with Covington, Kentucky students

Kizenko will return to Washington, D.C. this summer, where he has an internship with the Leadership Institute. And he'll be applying to colleges soon. Even without the National Honor Society on his resume, he lists Harvard, Georgetown and Princeton as his dream schools.

Kizenko identifies a lot with the Covington, Kentucky students who got into an encounter with Native American protesters on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

"You hear Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying we need to resist this conservative establishment, but now today it's actually conservative students who are being discriminated against for their political beliefs," said the teen. "And you see people on the left having to make up hate crimes to fit their narrative. We are just conservative students who believe in traditional values and support our president. And we are getting hated on."

Past reporting: Holmdel Student Who Feuded With High School Invited To Meet Trump

Holmdel Student: Supporting Trump Excluded Me From Honor Society