Ivan
Novakovski

When I stepped into the role, there was no perfect model for reopening a school. Families wanted children back on campus. Staff needed a plan they could carry out. Public-health conditions changed from week to week.

My first responsibility was to protect health and well-being. My second was to preserve learning and human connection. I also had to acknowledge that no protocol could remove every risk.

We prepared three operating modes: normal, blended, and distance learning. A risk matrix connected each mode to the conditions we could observe. We trained faculty, added medical capacity, changed the campus, and prepared different schedules for each school division.

We published the plan before every detail was settled because people needed to understand the reasoning, the thresholds, and the limits. We kept revising it as evidence and public guidance changed.

I learned to separate decisiveness from certainty. A leader can act with purpose while admitting that some answers will change. That honesty makes room for feedback and better judgment.

I also learned that plans matter most when people can understand them. The work was not only to choose a direction. It was to explain the tradeoffs, listen when the plan met real life, and adjust without losing sight of the learner.