Public Irked by Teen’s Cellphone Suspension

After hundreds of angry phone calls and e-mails, school officials in Columbus 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 calls about the boy’s suspension got so bad at one point that secretaries took 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.

The school district reduced the suspension to three days after officials met with him, the guardian who cares for him while his mother is out of the country, and a representative of her unit.

The decision allows Francois to return to school Monday.