Suspension reduced for student who took call from mom in Iraq

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) -- Faced with stinging public criticism, school officials in this Army base city have reduced a suspension imposed on a student who wouldn't give up his cell phone while talking to his mom -- a sergeant on duty in Iraq.
Kevin Francois, a 17-year-old junior at Spencer High School, was suspended for 10 days for disorderly conduct Wednesday after a teacher told him to give up his cell phone outside the school during his lunch break and he refused.
The boy said he had not expected the call from his mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, who left in January for a one-year tour.
The Muscogee County School District Board of Education allows students to have cell phones in school but not to use them during school hours. School officials said Francois was defiant and used profanity when asked to surrender his phone.
"We are empathetic to all students whose parents serve in the armed forces ... [but] we do have behavior standards which we uphold," said Superintendent John A. Phillips Jr.
On Friday, the school district reduced the suspension to three days, which will allow Francois to return to school Monday.
School officials received many calls about the episode, said assistant principal Wendell Turner.
"People are fussing at us, calling us names," Turner said.
"We are the school that serves Fort Benning," Turner said. "We're well aware of students with parents overseas."