I agree that common sense should override all application of rules whenever possible. I'm sure that the teacher will think twice now before she puts down the iron fist.
I can understand the initial reaction however to a cellphone going off in the classroom, w/o knowning who was on the other end.
The cell phone rang when the student was at lunch and he then stepped outside to get better reception.
"The student should be paged and brought to the office to take the call. Otherwise, someone would have to monitor the cell phone to verify it was the parent in Iraq on the line. We should welcome such calls to the school office." -- Mary Sue Polleys, county-wide, son deployed in Iraq
This seems reasonable to me. Hopefully it will be adopted.
It wasn't during class.
He took the phone outside during LUNCH.
Hardly a disruptive period to take a call.