Mounds View's school magician

John Ward is the author of what is, arguably, Mounds View schools' most widely read document: the school calendar.

With the calendar for the 2008-09 school year hot off the presses, and recently approved by the school board, Ward has crafted a schedule he thinks will be a hit because of the two-week Christmas and one-week Thanksgiving vacation breaks. But the work of the schools' calendar author isn't always appreciated.

"You can't please everyone; I know that much," said Ward, whose official title is director of human resources and operations.

School district calendars for the next year often come out about now. Sometimes, they are the work of committees. Sometimes, they are approved two years at a time. In Ward's case, he drafted the document in mid-December. It then went to a joint policy committee of various district educators. The teachers union was brought in on the discussion before Ward put together a draft that went before the school board for final approval.

There were some changes made from this year's calendar.

For one thing, parents had complained that days off last fall reserved for parent-teacher conferences and staff development days were scattered across three weeks. Ward and the school board decided this year to put those days together. As a result, teachers and students will have the entire week off for Thanksgiving.

Winter break will take two full weeks, in part because New Year's Day falls on Thursday, and Ward didn't want to send kids back to school for just one day on Friday.

That's moving into dangerous territory. Mid-June can be sweltering for schools without air conditioners. The kids are getting antsy. Plus, the year can bump into summer vacations and job plans.

Several years ago, when Ward was a school associate principal, schedulers sent the Mounds View school year into the third week of June.

"That was two weeks I'd just as soon forget," Ward said.

Parents have complained in the past about too many half-days set aside for teacher preparation and testing. Ward has tried to keep those to a minimum.

"Any time there is potentially a child-care issue we get some feedback," Ward said. "You'll see that theme running through all of this."

As a rule of thumb, when the calendar comes out, there's a response. But this year, Ward has gotten no complaints from parents ... at least so far.

"I think it's a pretty good calendar," he said. "But I know there are people out there who disagree with me."