A high school student suspended for criticizing his school's treatment of a soccer program says his athletic privileges have been restored.
Emil Cohen's father met with the principal of Northern Secondary School Friday, and the administration agreed to allow the 17-year-old to return to playing sports and using the school's athletic facilities.
"I'm glad the school's administration has made this concession," the Grade 12 student said in a statement. "On Monday I'm going to go to the gym facilities and work out."
However, he said he was still looking for an apology from the school and that he wanted the suspension wiped from his permanent record.
Officials at the Toronto District School Board could not be immediately reached for comment Friday evening.
Mr. Cohen's suspension resulted from a Nov. 22 speech at a school assembly. He was supposed to simply list his team's achievements, but used the talk to accuse the school of not giving the soccer program enough supplies, such as pylons, soccer balls and uniforms.
The next day, he said, he was pulled from class and told that he could no longer take part in team sports or events. Then, he was suspended for two days.
His classmates held a protest last week, denouncing the suspension as an attack on free speech.
The school board, however, said it had no problem with Mr. Cohen's criticisms, but that he picked the wrong time and place to deliver them. A spokeswoman said he had been told by a teacher not to include the criticisms in his speech, but did so anyway. (Mr. Cohen said he was under the impression the teacher was fine with his remarks.)