How hard can it be for a 17-year-old to get into school? Pretty hard, it turns out.

This week, Catholic school board officials interrogated Christian teen Josh Alexander about his Twitter account, a hit country song, firearms and mask mandates during a meeting about whether he will be allowed to go back to class.

“It felt quite inappropriate and ridiculous for the school board to be asking me some of the questions they did,” said Alexander in an interview with the Post.

Alexander was originally suspended from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in Renfrew, Ont., following a classroom discussion on gender identity where he said that God created only males and females.

When, months later, he tried to return to class, the school called the police and Alexander was arrested for breaching an expulsion and trespass notice he believed had expired. He was released without charge.

Last week, he won a court case that allows him to represent himself before the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board (RCCDSB) and appeal the disciplinary actions.

But he faces an Orwellian hurdle: the expulsion order meant he couldn’t attend classes, so the school board unenrolled him for not attending classes.

On Thursday, Alexander had a meeting with officials from the board along with new school principal Scott Nichol about getting re-registered and going back to class. Which is when he faced questions about his Twitter account, including why he posted “Try That In A Small Town,” a song by country singer Jason Aldean.

“The principal started going through a couple of the lyrics and telling me to define them and wanted to know why I chose that song,” said Alexander.

He said that the principal found some of the lyrics troubling, included, “See how far you make it down the road,” as well as, “Try that in a small town,” and “You cross that line, it won’t take long.” It felt “like they were trying to trap me,” said Alexander.

The song is a big hit but has been attacked for allegedly encouraging racism and violence. Country music broadcaster CMT pulled the music video shortly after its release. However, Aldean has defended the song , claiming the lyrics have been misinterpreted.

Alexander was also asked about a picture of him posing with firearms. “The principal went on to say he must ask whenever he sees a student with a firearm, which is completely false,” he said.

“I gave him several examples of students posing with firearms and it’s not an issue with the board. Many of my classmates will pose when they shoot a deer in hunting season and you take a photo with your firearm. But they took issue with me.”

He was also asked if he would comply with a mask mandate, if required. “That seemed completely out of place for the school board to ask me, especially for a re-registry meeting,” said Alexander.

One of the issues may be that Alexander is not afraid to speak his mind. One of his tweets mentioned weak men in society. “They asked me to give them an example of a weak man, to which I responded: their former principal. There seemed to be a little awkwardness after I said that,” he said.

When asked for other examples, he added, “I believe a weak man is anybody who refuses to stand up for teenage girls whose privacy and security is being put in danger and I believe the RCCDSB has a multitude of them.”

The board asked him to agree to various conditions before allowing him to return to school, including not dead naming students, “which was never an issue in the first place because I didn’t,” said Alexander.

“I made it clear that I am not going to intentionally search for conflict with students who have their various opinions of me and identify differently. That’s not my goal, it never was.”

Alexander has previously protested the policy of the RCCDSB, which allows trans people to access the bathroom of their choice according to their “lived gender identity.” He said he believes the policy violates the safety of female students. The issue arose again on Thursday.

“They also want me to refrain from using the words ‘grooming’ or ‘perverted’ when referring to the school’s policy regarding male and female private spaces,” said Alexander. “I immediately declined that request and I told them exactly why. I told them I feel it’s inappropriate and it is perverted for the Catholic board to knowingly allow males to watch female students undress.

“They are now punishing anybody who speaks out against that. I’m not going to silence myself on that. That’s why we got here in the first place and it’s still an issue. Those same students’ privacy and safety is being violated and I will continue to speak for them.”

Another condition was not to have contact with anybody who identified as a trans student. “That’s obviously another inappropriate condition for them to put out there. They didn’t do that to any other student,” said Alexander.

“I’ve never picked on any trans students. I’ve never even had communications with them (but) I’m not going to take an oath that I’m not going to have contact with anyone who identifies differently — that’s ridiculous. I’m going to the same school. I’m going to be in the same classes with them, we are going to have contact.”

Toward the end of the online meeting, Alexander was asked if he would respect the authority of the new principal. “I agreed and I gave biblical reasons as to why I will honour and respect authority up until it breaks my moral code,” he said.

“They asked me to explain my moral code to them and I explained it is all based on the Bible. Then I held the Bible up to the camera. I said this is the basis of my moral code. I live by the values and the ethos in this book and that’s how I will define my actions in future. And I explained that they were supposedly a Christian and a Catholic school and that shouldn’t be an issue.”

James Kitchen, the lawyer representing Alexander, said that, “Religious kids should be able to go to school and express their religious beliefs that God made male and female and they can’t switch, and that penises shouldn’t be in girls’ bathrooms and changing rooms.

“They should be able to go to school and peacefully express those views and not get kicked out or refused enrolment because they hold and express those religious beliefs.”

Alexander said he was told the board would review his comments and make a decision later.

In a statement, the board said it had received the decision from the Ontario Superior Court allowing Alexander to act independently and without his parents’ guidance. “We can confirm that we are respecting the ruling of the court and are now dealing directly with the student and not his parents. We can also confirm that he has requested to be re-registered in his own name,” read the statement.

Questioned about the details of the meeting, the board said it wouldn’t comment further.

Has a student ever had to fight this hard just to get into school?

National Post