Columbus, Ga. ? Following hundreds of angry phone calls and e-mails, 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.

The angry calls about the boy’s suspension got 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 cell phone outside the school 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 Muscogee County School District Board of Education allows students to have cell phones in school but not to use them during school hours.

On Friday, the school district reduced the suspension to three days, which will allow Francois to return to school Monday, after officials met with him, his guardian and a representative of his mother’s unit.

Parham said, however, that Francois’ behavior at school has been “a chronic problem.”

And Francois added: “I’m not a golden child and I’ve been wrong, but I was right this time.”