COLUMBUS, Ga. — Following hundreds of angry phone calls and e-mails, school officials here have reduced a suspension imposed on a student who wouldn't give up his cellphone while talking to his mom — a sergeant on duty in Iraq.

The angry calls about the boy's suspension became so bad at one point that secretaries had to take their phones off the hook, assistant principal Alfred Parham said.

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 cellphone outside the school during his lunch break and he refused, the teen said.

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 teacher says the confrontation happened in a hallway, not outside, and that Francois never said the call was with his mother.

The Muscogee County School District Board of Education allows students to have cellphones in school but not to use them during school hours.

The punishment for violating that policy is that the phone is confiscated until the end of the day. But Francois was suspended for cursing and being defiant, Parham said. "He did not want to accept the three-day suspension and to agree that he would not use the cellphone openly or curse," he said.

"We are empathetic to all students whose parents serve in the armed forces ... [but] we do have behavior standards which we uphold," Superintendent John Phillips said.

The school district late Friday reduced the suspension to three days, which will allow Francois to return to school tomorrow.

"We are the school that serves Fort Benning," said assistant principal Wendell Turner. "We're well aware of students with parents overseas."

Said Francois: "I'm not a golden child, and I've been wrong. But I was right this time."