ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS JONATHAN RATH HOFFMAN: Good morning everybody. Thank you for coming in this morning and being here for our weekly press briefing.
Today, I'm joined by Thomas Brady, the director of the Department of Defense Education Activity, who will be providing an update and answering your questions regarding DODEA schools and the upcoming school year.
Before we get started, I want to recognize from the podium that on Sunday, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower completed a seven-month deployment and a record-setting 206 consecutive days at sea. I want to echo the Secretary's sentiments and express our pride in welcoming home the Ike, and in thanking all of our service members who continue to serve and defend our nation in the face of the COVID pandemic.
So with that, I'll turn it over to Mr. Brady.
DODEA DIRECTOR THOMAS M. BRADY: Thank you, sir.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for the opportunity to tell you a little bit about DODEA schools and how we're preparing for the opening of our school year.
[Eds. Note: You can view Mr. Brady’s slides here.]
The first is that the Department of Defense Education Activity, we have 160 schools around the world in 11 countries, seven states and two territories. We have approximately 70,000 students and we have been preparing for this opening for the last eight months.
In February, we began to get the impacts of COVID. Our first school was closed in Daegu, Korea, in the end of February. And within 72 hours, we've transitioned from brick-and-mortar, in-person schooling to remote schooling for our children.
And we've learned from that lesson, because the COVID went from Korea and then it hit Vicenza, Italy, as an epicenter, then spread throughout Europe. And in each case, the schools transitioned to remote learning and then to the United States. So by the end of March, we were prepared to do the -- the remote learning.
So we're predicated on all of this planning and reaction and opening preparations, based on the Secretary of Defense's priorities, which is safety of service men -- service members, DOD civilians and family members. And also to sustain combat capabilities.
Our priorities as the director – or, my priorities as the director of DODEA is to open schools in a safe environment for our children and our staff and our teachers, our wonderful teachers, to be the continuity of education and it is -- is important, the best education is face-to-face in a classroom.
And so our priority is to open every classroom that we can, safely. And flexibility, because there's a remarkable myriad of situations that we're facing around the world. And unless we are flexible in our approach, we won't be successful. And to date, I think that we've been remarkably flexible and cooperative, and we -- coordinating at every step of the way.
Next slide, please.
That's the -- there's -- there's -- I -- I need to -- to take a moment and explain some of the modes of instruction that we're talking about, because it's easily-confused between virtual and remote, and they're both using computers. What does it mean?
So in circumstances, as I said before, teaching children is the best way; is in a classroom with -- with -- with some of our great teachers, so that's the number-one priority. If it's safe, we do that.
Number two is that -- that there are circumstances, because of the nature of the -- the COVID and -- and the impact on the communities, that we can't. And so the -- (the installation would be at a certain HPCON [Health Protection Condition] level. In this case, it would be Charlie -- or Delta, but Charlie, and we can't open. And so then we have to continue that education process through what we call remote. Remote schooling is where we have the -- it's geared for classes and a teacher, and think of it as the teacher is taking their class on the computer to their -- and the children are home and -- and -- and they're home.
And they -- they modify the instruction based on what would have happened in the classroom. And it's with your classmates, so it's your class, as you're seeing on the Zoom classroom and the Google classroom. You're doing assignments, and it's -- in that sense, it's -- it's remote, but it's classroom-oriented for those specific children, knowing that they will return to brick-and-mortar and they will be together again. So that's what we call remote learning, where teachers go and take their classrooms home.
Virtual learning is different. We've had a virtual school for 10 years. It was aimed primarily for high school students who are in remote locations who can't take particular courses, for example, A.P. chemistry would be difficult to do if we don't have the staff and the equipment at a remote high school. So they're allowed to do it through virtual schools where -- where the curriculum is designed for computers.
We have instructors, teachers who -- who lead the process; basically student-driven. A student sets their own schedule and completes the course to standard in a virtual setting. So it's designed from start to finish as a virtual, whereas remote, it -- it -- it's a -- the curriculum's modified, but it's a -- the -- it -- it -- it's bringing the -- the brick-and-mortar classroom to the computer, as opposed to virtual, which is designed from start to finish, student-driven for -- for that type of instruction.
So, knowing that within our 70,000 students and -- and our parents that we support, there would be some hesitation on returning their children to -- to what we consider very safe classrooms in -- in a HPCON Bravo. And so what we did was, about three weeks ago we offered the opportunity for parents who are unsure or not comfortable with sending their children to a brick-and-mortar school, to be -- to participate in a virtual school.
And the commitment for the virtual school is one semester, as opposed to a whole year, but one semester, and -- and we had about 1,200 students in the high school portion. We've expanded the virtual school from kindergarten through high school, and now we have 10,000 students enrolled. We've offered our teachers an opportunity to teach in the virtual school. About 10 percent indicated that they would like to do that, so we're professionally developing them and providing them the -- the -- the background and expertise to be virtual instructors.
So those are the modes of instruction, so we will be open. In some cases, open where children are in classrooms with teachers in a safe environment according to CDC standards. We will have remote, where teachers will be with their class in classes with their classmates, and virtual, which is designed for student-led, instructor-driven classes. So those are the three different modes of instruction that we intend to execute this opening year.
So -- next slide, please.
As I said, the planning process has been -- began six months ago. The good news is we're learning lessons from what we went through with the remote learning in March through the end of the year, and we've incorporated all of those CDC guidance and the Department of Defense guidance into our opening of school execution at the school level.
So our administrators and our teachers are aware of the safety measures that have been put in place. And as you can see there, in the second box, those are all the COVID-19 requirements that we had to make -- to insert in our planning process to procure the necessary face masks, the necessary antiseptic, the face-washing. In selected places, to put barriers that we will clean. We had to extend custodial contracts to make sure that it's cleaned to CDC standards.
Work with commanders -- and that's really the key to the Department of Defense schools -- is that we are hand-in-hand with each one of the local commanders, and all the facilities and all the expertise that they have, to include their medical staff.
We designed a very in-depth guide on how to open schools safely. Their staff and the commanders personally reviewed it, gave us input. We have changed it accordingly and -- and now we're in version two, soon to be version three, as we update from the CDC and their latest guidance, and -- and input from the field. So there's two elements where the local commanders and their community can input.
And I'll give an anecdotal example. In Europe, a very senior commander reviewed the plan, very comfortable with it, is going to execute it. And told his community, "This isn't a DODEA opening-of-school plan. This is our opening-of-school plan, and it's the community's opening-of-school plan and I'm very comfortable in how we're executing it." I think that that kind of -- of closeness or coordination is very, very critical as we go forward.
And -- and now we're in the -- the supplies are out in the field, they're in the school. Administrators, principals and staff have done a wonderful job in addressing the social distancing; and the -- the lunch programs, and how the children will get them and grab-and-go and where they will be; what spaces will be available to ensure that it's being taken care of. That's in our brick-and-mortar openings.
And -- and now we'll continue to -- our opening begins next week, in some cases in the United States, and that's where we'll go.
Next slide, please.
This gives you an overview of what we're doing in the -- around the world. The green indicates the schools that will be open in brick-and-mortar, in-person, where staff will welcome, teachers will be there, students will be there.
The yellow indicates those that installations and schools that will be open remotely -- again, this is where the child will be with their classroom on a computer. And then the virtual school, which isn't shown, with 10,000 students, will be operating from three different hubs around the world and -- and we look forward to an excellent opening of school.
I would tell you that -- that we'll be successful because we have a remarkably dedicated staff of teachers who are -- all teachers are great, but ours are very special, because they have that additional mission of taking care of the children of the men and women who we put in harm's way for defense of the United States -- and that's an additional mission, because we have an impact on readiness and we have an impact on -- on retention.
And so I think that's my overview. I think that concludes the slides, and I'm open to any questions that you may have.
MR. HOFFMAN: OK, we'll -- we'll go first to the phones and go through questions, obviously. I'm happy to take questions. Mr. Brady's given his time up today, so to -- to offer up, so if you have questions for him, we want to make sure to make -- take good use of his time right now.
So we'll go -- Bob Burns, A.P.?
Q: Yeah. Thank you, Jonathan. I have a question for each of you, if I could. Mr. Brady, for those of us who were on the phone and can't see the slides you refer to, and it may be just me, but I don't understand the -- the breakdown of numbers. You've got the -- you mentioned 10,000 are enrolled for the virtual schools, but does that mean that everybody else is going to be returning to the -- how -- how many are returning to actual schools in-person?
MR. BRADY: They will all be returning to school, but as I said before, the nuance between remote and actual brick-and-mortar. So the slide that you didn't see -- and I'm sure we could provide it to you...
MR. HOFFMAN: Yep.
MR. BRADY: ... is the numbers of schools that will be open, face-to-face with teachers, and the others that will be virtual.
MR. HOFFMAN: So I think, Bob, the -- the -- yeah.
MR. BRADY: And if you'd like the numbers, I'd be glad to give it to you. In the Pacific region we'll have 19 of 45 schools operating remotely, and that'd be Okinawa and two locations in Japan. In Europe, only two of the 64 schools will be opening remotely, and they are in Bahrain; and in the United States, 25 of 50 schools will be opening remotely, to include Fort Benning and Fort Bragg, among others. And so that's the breakdown. And did I answer your question, sir?
Q: Well, I was wondering the -- the numbers of students. You'd mentioned the number of schools, but does that -- can you also give the breakdown on the number of students for each of those three? (inaudible)...
MR. BRADY: I'm glad to provide it to you. I don't have it in front of me, but it's 70 -- 70,000.
Q: (inaudible) thousand. That' why I asked.
MR. BRADY: OK.
MR. HOFFMAN: Bob, we'll -- we'll get back to you on that. So it's -- it's -- a number will be in-person; 10,000 will be on the virtual.
MR. BRADY: Right.
MR. HOFFMAN: Some will be remote, but we can get that more accurate breakdown to you.
MR. BRADY: Right.
MR. HOFFMAN: All right, Barbara?
Q: Jonathan, I wanted to ask you something on a different topic quickly, if I might. Can you tell us if the military, the Defense Department, is now both prepared and willing to step in and provide support to civil authorities, if asked, for any post-election unrest or any support for the election?
MR. HOFFMAN: So with respect to the election itself, obviously, we have a role that we play supporting HHS and -- sorry, DHS and FBI in regard to election security. So I'll -- I'll defer you, with -- to the National Counterintelligence Security Center director's comments on efforts by actors, malign actors, to affect our elections, and our efforts on election security. But DHS and FBI are the federal government leads to deal with interference in our election. We will not tolerate interference from foreign officials in our election process and against our democratic institutions.
So we're in a support role. Obviously, CYBERCOM and others have some role. I'm not going to speak to that, but I would refer you to FBI and -- and DHS with regard to that.
For -- for the other part of your question, I -- I would just say we have a Constitution, and our Constitution, which all members of the military have sworn an oath to, provides no role for the U.S. military as arbiter of political or election disputes. This issue appears to be born of unserious thought reflecting a fundamental lack of appreciation for the history of our democracy and the civilian-military relationship established under our Constitution.
Q: Right, but let me just -- the -- the point I was trying to ask is, is the military -- the U.S. military does have a role, when asked, for supporting civil authorities when requested on any number of issues. So are -- support to civil authorities. So are you -- as you have in recent civil unrest. Is the U.S. military prepared and willing to take on that task or do you cross it off the list of things you will not do? Would you be prepared, if asked, to support civil authorities if there was election -- post-election unrest?
MR. HOFFMAN: I think I'm going to let my -- my statement stand. I'd say that that's a hypothetical, so I don't -- don't really have a -- have a comment for you on the -- on the hypothetical you’ve laid out there, other than the statement I've already given.
Q: Thank you.
MR. HOFFMAN: Lucas.
Q: Jonathan, any update on the Air Force helicopter that was shot at earlier this week over northern Virginia?
MR. HOFFMAN: We're working with the FBI to track down some information and -- and they're leading the investigation into what took place. Obviously, greatly concerned with individuals that would take direct fire at one of our aircraft performing a flight in the U.S. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries and it could have been a very tragic situation, so we're going to work with the FBI and try to get to the bottom of this as quickly as we can.
Q: And for Mr. Brady, why is it important that children go to school in-person?
MR. BRADY: I think you ask any educator in the United States, they say that the adult, the talented teacher interface with the children, the social interaction between the pupils in the classroom, the ability to -- to oversee tasks as they occur, make corrections, make sure they're meeting standards. It's just absolutely a better situation for student achievement.
The best -- the next-best, given the circumstances, is remote, trained teachers who know how to do Google classrooms, children who can Zoom, and we've had practice at it, and we've gotten better.
The statistics indicated that it was a remarkable shaky start, because, who knew? But by the end of the period that we had going last year, we were up to 98 percent of students, within nine to 12, were daily on their computer, turning in assignments, attendance, et cetera. So it was a learning curve, but it's not ideal, but it's the best -- next best.
Q: And should students be playing sports this fall, including football?
MR. HOFFMAN: That's a -- we'll literally be...
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Q: ... athletics at these...
(CROSSTALK)
MR. HOFFMAN: Well, we -- we -- I think that the question...
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Q: ... overseas continue?
MR. BRADY: All our decisions are not necessarily the school's decisions. I mean, it's not DODEA's decision, it's based on the Department of Defense guidance and what the -- the health condition is within that area. And so for HPCON Charlie, installations in HPCON Charlie, there's absolutely no sports whatsoever.
We follow the -- the American High School and Athletic Association guidance on this, and -- and there will be -- in B, there's some sports, so track and field, for example, golf, some swimming, but non-contact and -- and limited number of adults and they do it safely. But that's the extent that we go.
MR. HOFFMAN: The key is that we're going to follow the guidelines and -- to make sure that the experience for our students are as safe as possible. And as we've seen, the difference between the Department of Defense and other organizations is that as -- as Mr. Brady mentioned, we have an obligation to the family members who are serving to take care of their kids and take care of their -- their families, so that -- so that they are prepared. And it's a readiness issue. So we're going to continue to do that.
I'm going to go to the phones real quick, do a couple questions. Sylvie?
Q: Hello, thank you. I have two questions, actually how -- for you, Jonathan. I would like to know if you have any details on the incident in the Oman Sea today or yesterday? With the -- with Iran, and explain to us why the coalition didn't intervene.
And also, Gen. McKenzie yesterday seemed to confirm that the U.S. is helping the SDF [Syrian Democratic Forces] to exploit the oilfields in the northeast of Syria. So I wanted to know how it works, if there is an American oil company involved, and what the legal basis for this is.
MR. HOFFMAN: OK, so I'll take the first question. Briefly, I don't have much of an update for you on the information that was provided by CENTCOM yesterday.
Obviously, it is no secret that Iran has been a destabilizing force in the region, whether it's attacking targets in Saudi Arabia -- infrastructure targets in Saudi Arabia; disrupting commercial shipping through the use of mines or disruptive behavior; the -- the user of cyber-attacks; funding terrorist organizations throughout the region; ballistic missile attacks on Iraq. So it's -- it's not a surprise to anyone that Iran has continued with this behavior.
I understand that later today the IMSC [International Maritime Security Construct] will have a briefing where they'll provide an additional update for the events that took place yesterday, and so I would ask you to -- to tune in for that.
I believe your second question was regarding Syrian oilfields, is that correct, Sylvie?
Q: Yes, it is. Thank you.
MR. HOFFMAN: So I'd refer you back to Gen. McKenzie's comments. But generally as we've seen in -- in Syria with regard to the oilfields, the -- the goal is, is to prevent terrorist organizations from having access to the oil to fund their operations.
We've seen tens of millions of dollars in the past per year go to their -- their funding of weapons systems, their exporting of terrorism. And so by preventing them from obtaining those oilfields, it prevents them from having that source of revenue.
It additionally allows the -- our partners in the region who can actually control those oilfields, to use the funds from that to maintain defensive operations, to help them defeat terrorist efforts in the area, and also to fund efforts to rebuild their communities.
All right, so we'll go next to Idrees?
Q: (inaudible). I had a quick question about the schools, and specifically about the teachers. If in the schools the teachers -- any number of teachers -- refuse to teach because they don't feel safe coming in, or with the precautions taken, are there any penalties? And same with students, what if a student refuses to come into school because he or she doesn't feel safe with the precautions taken? What avenues do they have or are they just going to be left?
MR. BRADY: No – no child will be left. So as I understood your question, we have the procedures and protocols established for staff members who exhibit symptoms or cannot come to work, and we'll take appropriate measures to provide qualified substitutes or whatever and make sure that the -- the instructor takes the right procedures with the local medical officials, et cetera, and gets tested.
For students, it's a similar procedure, where parents will check the child before they go to school in terms of temperature and any symptoms, and then they will work with the -- the -- their local medical facility on testing and further quarantine that's necessary until recovery to come back. If a child's out for more than four days, our student support team will make sure that the -- will check on the -- their status and then provide packets of -- of instruction to make sure that they keep their continuity of education.
So there's multiple ways that we will take care and plan for the inevitable positive results, but we are comfortable in that no child -- it sounds like a cliché -- no child will be left behind. But obviously, we take very, very serious charge of our students, and we will assure that they will take care -- be taken care of instructionally.
MR. HOFFMAN: OK. Stay on the phones, and we'll go to Courtney?
Q: I think the question, if you don't mind, Mr. Brady …
MR. BRADY: Sure.
Q: … I believe this question was, what happens if a child opts out of school, or a parent who's fearful of the security of the school?
MR. BRADY: Oh, well, that's why we set up the -- the virtual school option, so that they can be a part of that virtual school.
Q: And all students, all teachers can opt out without (inaudible)...
MR. BRADY: Well, not all teachers. Students -- on a case-by-case basis, the parents can contact the principal and the local superintendent and see what availability, and taking care of the -- the child. So there is an opportunity for those to go to a virtual school.
Q: How about a teacher, though, who doesn't (inaudible)...
MR. BRADY: Well, the teacher's already -- a little -- the -- it's, again, a case-by-case basis. It depends on the -- we have what's called a reasonable accommodation procedure within the -- the OPM [Office of Personnel Management], and many of our -- about 500 of our teachers have put in for reasonable accommodation based on that self-evaluation with a proper medical documentation. We will make sure that they are reasonably accommodated, to include, perhaps, instruction in a -- a virtual school.
MR. HOFFMAN: All right. So we'll go to the phone. We'll go to Tony Capaccio.
Q: Hi. Hi, Jon. For Mr. Brady, can you -- I had a question for Mr. Brady and for you. Of the 10,000 students, can you break down how many are in the United States versus overseas bases?
And for Jon, the Secretary went down to visit the B-21 bomber yesterday, development. We don't hear a lot about that program. What were his impressions of the program? What was he briefed on? And does he have any concerns about its cost or development at this point?
MR. HOFFMAN: I'll just quickly take that one. He -- he did -- he did not go down to the B-21 yesterday. He -- he traveled previously. The -- the B-21 program is an important aspect of our nuclear triad and our -- our future bomber forces, and we're committed to seeing its development and -- and -- and eventual testing and launch. I can't really talk about any specifics on the program right now, but that's our commitment, is to see that program through.
Q: OK, sir...
MR. BRADY: And -- and...
Q: And then the breakdown of students?
MR. BRADY: Yes. In -- in the United States there's 4,330 students who are enrolled in the virtual school. In Europe, it's 3,184, and in the Pacific it's 2,158 which...
Q: (inaudible)...
MR. BRADY: ... which is 10,028, but I rounded it to 10,000.
MR. HOFFMAN: OK.
Q: Are there any more -- are there any difficulties, or specific challenges in virtual learning for a -- for kids in the Pacific theater versus those in the U.S., in terms of the technologi -- the -- the links, the -- the -- the command-and-control pipes, so to speak?
MR. BRADY: No, I -- actually, the -- the -- a problem -- it -- it's a -- the connectivity is – is -- been done. We've addressed it well. We have hotspots that -- that are given to students who -- who need them, Wi-Fi hotspots. We've distributed over 7,000 Chromebooks, which are the connectivity to the virtual school. We have not had connectivity issues, and of course, our hub is in the Pacific with the instructors, so it's a good time zone, and they are talking to one another. So, no, we haven't run into that, and when we did, we addressed it with the virtual hotspots.
MR. HOFFMAN: All right, we'll go to Matt Seyler from ABC.
Q: Thank you both. Mr. Brady, I just want to make sure I understand the difference between virtual and remote schooling. Remote schooling would be done in locations for which brick-and-mortar is not an option because of the local conditions, and virtual is offered in places where brick-and-mortar is offered, but people aren't comfortable. Is that correct?
MR. BRADY: It's -- yeah, I -- I think you have it. If I could go just a little bit further, the brick-and-mortar -- the -- the remote is an -- a short-term answer to keeping students and teachers together while they're pending return to the brick-and-mortar; A virtual is a separate curriculum designed to be a school that's a semester long, with electives, et cetera, et cetera. So yeah, I think -- I -- I think you got it.
MR. HOFFMAN: OK. We'll come back here to the room. Jeff?
Q: Thank you. Mr. Brady, you had said the posi -- the chances of a positive test are inevitable. Has DODEA looked at the risk that students may die by returning to school? If so, are students at increased risk of dying?
MR. HOFFMAN: Look, Jeff, I -- I think that everyone acknowledges that the COVID is -- is a terrible and difficult disease that we're dealing with. We're putting in the best measures we possibly can to mitigate any risk. That includes face masks. That include social distancing, hand washing -- all the things that Mr. Brady went through.
We -- at the Department of Defense, we've continued to operate all of our efforts around the world. The schools is one thing where we're going to continue to operate. We -- we acknowledge that there's risk. We've given parents and teachers the option, if they believe that that risk is -- is more than they're willing to -- to take on, to seek out addition -- alternatives to being in class. As Mr. Brady talked about, we have the virtual learning environment that's available to them, as well. And so that -- this is going to be something where we're working with communities, we're working with parents, we're working with teachers to reach the solution that's best for them, and to limit the risk as much as possible.
Q: Thank you. I would like to hear Mr. Brady's answer.
MR. HOFFMAN: That's all right. We'll go to Laura.
Q: Thank you for doing this. So two questions – one for Mr. Brady. Is there any plans to test children preventatively to try to (inaudible) so that they're not going to get COVID, and to guarding against bringing the disease back to their older relatives?
And then, Jonathan, for you, just on the Syria oilfields, what responsibility does the U.S. military have in the region to protect the work on the oilfields, given what you said about keeping the resources out of the hands of ISIS?
MR. BRADY: I'm -- I'm sorry. I'm old, and I might have missed the first part of your question. Are we -- any tests that...
Q: Are there any plans to test children preventatively?
MR. BRADY: No, not at this time.
Q: Is that something that you'd consider doing, or do you just not have the (inaudible)...
MR. BRADY: Well, again, it's -- it's -- we work with the local commanders and the local medical experts, and that is not an option that -- that appeared viable or -- or -- or necessary, according to the CDC.
MR. HOFFMAN: OK. On the oilfields question, I'd refer you over to CENTCOM on what the -- the actual role is going to be in the area. I would just say that we've been working with our partners in the area to protect our partners, protect Americans in the area, protect our forces. We continue to have the right of self-defense. But other than that, I don't have anything -- any specifics for you. All right? Yeah?
Q: Caitlin Kenney from Stars & Stripes. My question is on whether -- does DODEA provide any food assistance program such as reduced lunches? And if so, are you making sure that children who are -- may be remote or virtual can take advantage of that in any way?
MR. BRADY: Thank you, yes. We do. We have -- we provided over 1 million grab-and-go lunches in the spring, when our children were remote, at no cost to parents. So they would drive up to the school, get the lunch, and drive on. So we're keenly aware of the impact of nutrition on learning, and we did have that grab-and-go established.
And we will continue to provide proper meals to -- within FDA guidelines. And so we're pursuing that continuation of that program.
Q: Thank you.
MR. HOFFMAN: Go ahead.
Q: I have two questions for you...
MR. HOFFMAN: Sure.
Q: ... actually. First, do you have anything on France's plan to send jets and ships to the eastern Mediterranean because of the tension, of course, between Turkey and Greece?
And second, do you have any update, any new information about the cause behind the explosion in Beirut?
MR. HOFFMAN: So, first, on -- on Beirut, we're going to -- once again, terrible tragedy that has taken place in Beirut. We -- the U.S. has been continuing to assist the Lebanese people and the Lebanese government. The Department of Defense is supporting USAID, the (inaudible) -- the lead agency from the U.S. government. I know the acting administrator, John Barsa, is -- either he's in Lebanon now, or he's soon to visit to help coordinate relief efforts.
So the USCENTCOM's been sending aircraft with relief supplies, including food, water, medical supplies and we'll continue to do that, whether it's through CENTCOM; European Command has six USAID purchased interagency emergency health kits from the Netherlands that flew through Ramstein and have been delivered, that have the ability to help local hospitals support up to 60,000 people for three months. So we've been providing a lot of resources.
In terms of the investigation itself, we're continuing to defer to the Lebanese government as they -- they work through the investigation. We will -- as I mentioned last week, if asked, we'll be able to provide assistance to them, but we're not going to get ahead of them reaching the conclusion, making a statement about the causes of the explosion.
On France and -- France and Turkey in the eastern Med., obviously, concerned with -- with some of the incidents that have taken place in the Mediterranean. France and NATO* are both incredibly important NATO allies and we would like to see the tensions lowered, and so we would like to see them continue to work together and find solutions that do not involve the necessity of having warships or have aircraft deployed in -- in a less than cooperative environment.
All right, we'll go back to the phones real quick. Courtney Kube?
Q: Thanks. My question's been answered.
MR. HOFFMAN: OK, all right.
Q: This is (inaudible) with Newsy, I have a question.
MR. HOFFMAN: Well, let me keep going through here. Hold on.
Karen from Military Times?
Q: Hi, thanks for taking my question. Mr. Brady, who is responsible for cleaning the classrooms? Is -- are the teachers going to be responsible for some of that? And in terms of your 21st century classrooms that are more open, are they going to require more resources to deal with COVID?
MR. BRADY: Good question. Yes, they do. And we've already modified our custodial contracts around the world to account for the additional cleaning to CDC standards. But inside the classroom, there are -- and teachers will be provided the proper cleaning materials, but they're not -- we're designing, like, the instructional material to -- to have a minimal amount of required cleaning.
And by that, I'm talking about the manipulatables that the -- the younger children, where they're using the blocks and the Legos -- they will be individually bagged for each child so you don't have that passing, and it doesn't require the teacher to take valuable time to do that.
So we're not expecting our teachers to be -- to be custodial workers. We're taking the proper planning to make sure that that's not part of their process. But there are areas that they will, and they've been instructed to do that and I know they will, gladly.
MR. HOFFMAN: All right, we'll go to Fadi Mansour, Al Jazeera.
Q: Hi, Jonathan, thank you. I have -- I have two questions. We've seen lately a couple of news reports about the state of defense partnership between the U.S. and Qatar, specifically claiming that Qatar has been supporting Hezbollah, which puts U.S. troops in the Middle East in danger.
Do you see any credibility to these reports and do you have any -- does the DOD have any plans to change the military posture in Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar?
And second question, the U.N. Security Council has taken up the issue of renewing the ban on exporting weapons to Iran. My question is, if the Security Council fails in doing so, what kind of challenges do you see to the U.S. presence in the region if Iran was able to acquire new weapons systems? Thank you.
MR. HOFFMAN: On Iran, I've mentioned our concerns with Iran's destabilizing behavior. The U.S. government believes that the -- the ban on weapons sales is an important provision in place to help diminish Iranian misadventure and they're well known as the leading state sponsor of terrorists around the globe. And so we believe that that ban is important.
I'll defer you over to -- I'll refer you over to State Department for -- for comments about the actual vote at the U.N. and what may take place, but we believe it is necessary and we believe it's important that that prohibition stay in place.
On your -- your first question with Qatar, I don't have any specifics on that. I'll just say, look, we evaluate our partnerships around the world on a frequent basis. We expect all of our partners to -- to be good partners and to behave responsibly. I don't have any specific comments with regard to the allegations in recent reporting.
All right, we'll keep going. A couple more people, I think.
Patricia, from Military.com?
Q: Yes, thanks for taking my question. Is there, like, a threshold of, you know, how many -- like a percentage of how many kids or teachers might test positive before you will go to remote learning? Like, what is that decision process going to be?
MR. BRADY: The decision process is that the child will be -- either it occurs before -- the parent will take the child to the medical facility if it occurs at home, obviously. But if it's at school and the student's referred to a nurse, the nurse will take appropriate action to the MTF [military treatment facility]. And should it be a positive result, we will close for three -- two to three days to -- to ensure that the school is completely sanitized and the child is taken care of properly.
If we get past three days where we have to close, then we will go to a remote -- I'm sorry, the sixth day. If we -- three -- two to five, we will sanitize, et cetera, and return the children. If it gets to the sixth day, then we will go to a remote setting. And so that would be the trigger.
MR. HOFFMAN: OK. We'll keep going. Jennifer, from Air Force Magazine?
Q: Thank you so much for taking my question. So I have two questions. The first is, can you please speak to, Mr. Brady, which Air Force installations will -- will be opening in-person versus remotely? And then second, DOD-wide, I'm curious as to what, if any, resources DODEA plans to make available to military families to ease the burden of remote and virtual learning on service members and their spouses, especially in cases where either both parents are serving or a civilian spouse is still employed?
MR. HOFFMAN: I'll -- I'll jump in on the first one. We don't -- we're not going to read through the -- read through the list of all of the installations. We'll -- we'll work on getting a list for each installation that's out there, but we're not going to read through all of them right now, but we'll -- the second one?
MR. BRADY: The second one is the burden of the virtual school -- actually, we -- we thought of it as a boon to -- to -- to give parents a choice as they make an informed choice. The -- our impact on readiness and making sure that the service members are where they should be is critical and that's why our emphasis was on opening in brick-and-mortar.
I know that we -- the local commanders are looking at every possible way to expand CDC's, child development center, child care centers, et cetera, and so we -- we -- we, in -- from DODEA, from our perspective, we are trying to get to as many non-remote schools as -- to open face-to-face, person-to-person.
The virtual school has provided us an option for those parents who make that conscious decision that -- that it's best for their family and their students to -- to do that, so I thought that would be a plus.
MR. HOFFMAN: All right. And then we'll go to Newsy. I -- I think I heard you on the phone there earlier, but just calling on you now.
Q: Yes, thank you so much for taking my question. This is for Mr. Brady. What is being done for students that have learning disabilities as far as remote or virtual learning? Are there any special classes specifically for those with specific learning disabilities?
MR. BRADY: Absolutely, and in fact we just put out, for our virtual (inaudible) force and the remote teachers, a -- a very thorough procedure guide for the types of -- how to improve their professional development providing instruction, or what additional resources will be provided, so that we meet the requirements of IEPs [Individualized Education Program] and at the same time 504 accommodations.
And -- and so we have been, again, from our practice in the spring, we address the special education needs of our fragile children very well -- it -- and remote as we can. So we've got the right resources, the right professional development and -- and we're working with each student individually.
MR. HOFFMAN: OK. (inaudible)?
Q: Can you tell us what some of those resources are? Say if you have a student who may be autistic and can't really learn well on using computers, like, what -- give us some examples of some of those additional resources that you would be applying.
MR. BRADY: Absolutely. So we're talking about that -- that we would allow additional time for that -- that child for a given lesson. We understand it would be a -- a longer time. We'd also talk about -- we'd also refer the -- the -- the parents to very in-depth websites to -- what they can do at the home to assist the child.
We also would call in any experts for a particular need for a child in an extended remote learning and perhaps that they weren't with a normal class schedule, it would work. And so we would have experts work with them afterwards.
So it would be based on an individual and the resources we would -- and -- and printed material. We would also send them printed material and any other educational aids we could provide the parents to assist us.
MR. HOFFMAN: Cailin, last question.
Q: Just a follow up on the shutting down a school to clean it and then bring it back.
MR. BRADY: Yes.
Q: What is your anticipation if it -- if you have to keep opening and shutting schools because of cases? Like, you shut it for three days, you're back for a week, another kid gets sick or a teacher, you have to close it for another two days and having to go, like, opening, closing and remote, like?
What's the criteria, I guess, to go fully remote for a semester? Like, are you anticipating the up and down or what -- what are you ...
MR. BRADY: We're -- we're -- flexibility was part of the four pillars of designing these and if it would be case-by-case, and in -- in circumstances where it's Bravo -- Korea, for example -- we have our installations there, they're -- the local commanders have said they're Bravo, they haven't had a reported case in a period of time, so that appears to be an excellent example of where brick-and-mortar will be -- and can -- continuing.
The rest is -- is flexibility in the fact that we can't anticipate what's going to happen in a local community and if it gets to a certain point, which I'm not prepared to say what that point is yet, we'll balance between taking care of -- of -- of kids for -- to -- to make sure their education is good and take care of readiness for their parents to be at work, and -- and there will be a balance and we will reach it.
And it's part of our planning, but I'm not -- we haven't -- we're prepared for it, but we haven't -- we're not going to announce what that is at this point.
Q: Jonathan, any plans to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Iraq or Syria in the coming months?
MR. HOFFMAN: I don't have any announcements for you right now. So just to -- want to thank Mr. Brady for coming and thank you guys for your questioning. Obviously this is an incredibly important issue for the department and maintaining our commitment to our families, and it's very clear that the Defense Education Activity has a -- an incredibly thorough plan. We'll share with you guys the -- the slides, as well as the list of installations, and we'll get that guys -- that out to you guys quickly.
And -- and the -- this will change as -- as some of the conditions change in certain areas, and the list may be modified, and there'll be differences, and we'll update that, but thank you guys for this. It's important to get this information out to the families and the students over the next week or so before school starts. Thank you, guys.
MR. BRADY: Thank you very much.
[*Eds. Note: Mr. Hoffman was discussing France and Turkey as NATO allies.]