Good morning. Welcome, everyone. I know that a quorum is present, and the committee is meeting today in a legislative hearing to hear testimony on this is not a drill, educated related response and recovery in the wake of Natural Disaster. Pursuant to Committee Rule 7c, Opening Statements are limited to the chair and the Ranking Member. This allows us to hear more from our witnesses sooner and provides all members with adequate time to ask questions. A small note this hearing was scheduled before we knew that this was going to be a short week. Votes will be called at 10 00, and members will go to vote. And mr. Allen has agreed to come back and continue the hearing so we can have here every witness testify. So i now recognize myself for making an Opening Statement. Today were here to examine the federal governments response to School Communities impacted by Natural Disasters and the diverse challenges our schools face on the road to recovery. We need to know what has gone right, what has gone wrong, and what needs to improve for the sake of our children and their schools because we do know that it is a question of when, not if the next storm will hit. Our distinguished witnesses will share their harrowing experience rebuilding communities in the wake of some of our countrys most devastating and recent Natural Disasters. We also have an opportunity to hear directly from the Education Department secretary hes here about their role in helping these communities recover. Just last october, Supertyphoon Yutu devastated my own district in northern marianas. Unfortunately, despite being the most powerful storm in the world that year and the worst american storm since 1935, yutu received minimal Media Coverage or even mention in the president s twitter feed unlike other storms did. However, mr. Secretary, i do appreciate secretary devos phone call to me just days after yutu with a pledge of support for Mariana School teachers and students. Secretary devos followed through on her pledge by releasing 1. 1 million in grant funds in january for the marianas Public School system, but our students will need much more federal support to restore Proper School facilities for the over 900 middle School Students whose campus was totally destroyed by yutu and are still lerning in fema built tents, despite families being displaced and losing their homes, im inspired by the strength of our students. Their perseverance is reflected in the 900 High School Seniors who will receive their diplomas next week, i will say, with many planning to attend college or serve their country in the military. Their perseverance has shown through the students who won the right to represent in the challenge in for the second year in a wrow. The u. S. Virgin islands and puerto rico were also devastated by hurricanes irma and maria in 2017. In the u. S. Virgin islands, it took five weeks for affected Public Schools to finally reopen. Over a year later, these reopened schools continue to struggle with damage, physical and technological infrastructure. While this community extended an invitation to our friends in puerto rico to testify, we were disappointed they could not join us today. Thank you. In response to these disasters, congress provided funding to provide relief to puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands, yet very little of the most helpful educational Disaster Relief funding has been spent, and fema has not started rebuilding schools. Elsewhere in our country, california was also devastated by Natural Disasters. Over the last two years, california has been rav jed by the states world wildfires in history, killing over 100 people, destroying nearly 20,000 homes, and cutting off schooling for thousands of students for weeks. In total, 12 schools were destroyed and 14 schools were damaged. T air quality was severely impacted. The teachers in Oakland Unified School district asked that masks be provided if district officials did not close the schools. Schools face unique challenges recovering from Natural Disasters, yet the Common Thread across this crisis is a federal government that refuses to put people before politics and acknowledge the impact Climate Change has on communities. Were still until this week republican lawmakers repeatedly blocked passage of a key funding recovering from Supertyphoon Yutu, wildfires, hurricane maria. A relief package includes 165 million to address recoveryrelated educational needs. The bill also mandates gao audits, an investigation that would further assist this committees work to oversee and improve the federal governments Disaster Response. While we may disagree in our assessments of federal responses to Natural Disaster, the underlying crisis we face is undeniable. Climate change caused by human activities has worsened Natural Disasters and made Emergency Preparedness in schools more difficult. As Climate Change continues to intensify, the federal governments responsibility to provide School Communities with the resources to recover from Natural Disaster is more important now than ever before. Todays hearing is a critical first step toward ensuring that stude students, families, and school staff can rely on the federal government to help them not only recover from Natural Disasters but actually emerge stronger. I want to thank the witnesses for joining us today, and i now yield to my friend and Ranking Member, mr. Allen, for his Opening Statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for yielding. You know, we sometimes forget that when a Natural Disaster strikes an area, it doesnt discriminate what it destroys in its path. Schools are central gathering places and theyre just as vulnerable as homes, businesses and churches when a Natural Disaster hits our communities. Hurricanes and fires like the ones that have devastated the u. S. In recent years demolished School Buildings and displaced thousands of students, forcing communities to scramble to rebuild. When congress provides disaster aid, making sure this funding is used well is critical to the successful and efficient renewal of americas destroyed schools. The Department Must also assure it will support Technical Assistance, regulatory flexibility and other measures that allow state and local leaders the resources necessary to rebuild after a Natural Disaster and serve students in their communities. There are no better witnesses to ask about the struggles of rebuilding schools after Natural Disasters than local and state education leaders. They are the best suited to brief congress on the challenges that come with reconstruction and the success and areas for improvement in the department of educations support of Disaster Relief efforts. I look forward to this hearing and to working with my colleagues to ensure that schools are not forgotten in the aftermath of Natural Disasters. We cant always fully prepare for a destructive storm or fire, but we should be doing all we can to make the returning of americas children to school as seamless as possible. Thank you, and i yield back. Thank you very much, mr. Allen. Without objection, all other members who wish to submit written statements into the record may do so by submitting them to the Committee Clerk electronically in microsoft word format by 5 00 p. M. On wednesday, june 19th. Now id like to introduce our witness for the first panel. Mr. Fran brogan serves as the assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the United States department of education. Secretary brogan most recently served as chancellor of pennsylvanias public universities. I couldnt help but noticing you and dr. Shalala. He began his career as a fifth grade teacher in martin county, florida, and later served as a dean of students, assistant principal, principal, and superintendent before being elected floridas commissioner of education in 1994. Mr. Brogan continued his advocacy for Public Education when he was elected to serve as Lieutenant Governor of florida in 1998 and 2002. After five years in that role, he was named president of Florida Atlantic university, a position he held until 2009, when he was selected to serve as chancellor of floridas public universities. We appreciate all the witnesses for being here today and look forward to your testimony. Let me remind the witnesses that we have read your written statements, and they will appear in full in the hearing record pursuant to Committee Rule 70 and committee practice, each of you is asked to limit your oral presentation to a fiveminute summary of your written statement. Let me remind the witnesses that pursuant to title 18 of the u. S. Code, section 1001, it is illegal to knowingly and willfully falsify any statement, representation, written writing, document, or material fact presented to congress or otherwise conceal or cover up a material fact. Before you begin your testimony, please remember to push the button on the microphone in front of you so that it will turn on and the members can hear you. They have to push a button to turn on the lights too. But as you begin to speak, the light in front of you will turn green. After four minutes, the light will turn yellow to signal that you have one minute remaining. When the lights turn red, your five minutes have expired and we ask that you please wrap up. When answering a question, please remember to once again turn your microphone on. I now welcome and recognize assistant secretary brogan for his oral statement. Thank you. How is that . Thank you. The lights were easier, mr. Chairman. I want to thank you all very much, mr. Chairman, and, again, Ranking Member and members for giving me the opportunity to be with you and the Committee Members today. Thank you for the opportunity to share how the department of education does work very hard to help students, their families, and their communities and states and territories recover from Natural Disasters. In 2017, hurricanes in florida, texas, georgia, puerto rico, and the United StatesVirgin Islands and wildfires in california disrupted far too many learning environments for students and teachers. Those of us at the department of education were indeed moved to minimize impacts on students of all ages, their teachers and their schools. We continue to support communities as they work to reopen schools and restore learning environments. Secretary devos, as mentioned, and other Senior Department officials traveled to each of the hurricaneimpacted areas in the fall of 2017 to see firsthand the damage to affected schools. More than a dozen Department Staff participated in the outreach efforts, informed initial cost estimates, developed legislative options, prepared an official helped to prepare an official white house request to congress for assistance, and Technical Assistance to congress to help develop legislation. Secretary devos immediately made available Financial Assistance through the departments project serve program, which helps restore learning environments in affected areas. She provided grants of 2 million each to the United StatesVirgin Islands, puerto rico, texas, and california with the goal of jumpstarting highpriority relief efforts to supplement the forthcoming congressional action on comprehensive Disaster Recovery legislation. In early 2018, congress provided 2. 7 billion to fund a comprehensive set of educationrelated Disaster Recovery programs, and the department quickly moved to implement this appropriation. To date, weve awarded nearly 1. 4 billion under five programs designed in this effort to make certain that people have the available funds to do the jobs that they must do in the world of recovery. I also personally visited puerto rico in the summer of 2018 following my confirmation as assistant secretary. By that time, students were already back in school. That didnt mean everything was back to normal. Many of the windows were still boarded up. Many of the buildings were still without airconditioning, and many of the students were still homeless as well as staff members. Yet i refuse to forget the Smiling Faces of those children. Despite their challenges, they are still children, always hopeful when it comes to their futures. Our team remains in regular contact with students and education leaders in affected areas. We created the hurricane help web page to make available Key Resources including information on the many flexibilities in using federal taxpayer funds and various waivers made available. We provided funds to states like florida and 2 million to states like california for the 2018 wildfires, and were working to improve our ability to provide timely resources, highquality support, and appropriate oversight of federal taxpayer funds. The creation in the department of education of a new Disaster Recovery unit. This new fiveperson team will be devoted fulltime to managing current and future Disaster Response efforts, including the development of inhouse expertise to Leverage Department resources and partner effectively with other federal agencies. Our goal remains to support students, their families, their teachers, and their communities affected by Natural Disasters. We thank you once again for providing us an opportunity to discuss this very important and indeed timely issue. And, mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, i do look forward to answering any questions that you all might have this morning. Thank you very much, secretary brogan. Under Committee Rule 8a, we will now question witnesses under the fiveminute rule. As chair, ive decided to go at the end. So i will yield to the next Senior Member on the majority side, who will be followed by the Ranking Member. We will then alternate between the parties. First, of course, dr. Brogan, apparently you guys know each other, will be dr. Shalala. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Welcome, assistant secretary brogan. We have been longtime friends and worked together in florida over the years. The secretary is lucky to have you. Thank you. Let me im particularly concerned, secretary brogan, about the delays in the restart funds to puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands. Puerto rican educators continue to report that they have not received those funds. Can you give us a sense of why theyve been delayed and what youre able to do to make sure they get those funds . Yes. Thank you, congresswoman. Indeed, good to see you as well. By the way, theyre lucky to have you too. Thank you. Its a pleasure to be with you and all of the members. And in answer to your question, of course the process of moving the dollars made available by congress to those who have been affected by Natural Disasters is very important, and its also very important to expedite that effort. The reality in 2017, when we received that appropriation, it was before me, but nevertheless was received in february. And ultimately in the months of march, april, and may, a significant amount of money immediately went out the door in terms of available dollars. Those dollars were determined based on need at the time, but also based on the programs and the activities to which they would be directed. As you all know better than most, as far back as 2017 and even before that, certain categories of funding have been utilized in Disaster Recovery allocations after the total. That includes immediate aid to restart school operations. Congresswoman, that is restart obviously. Temporary emergency impact aid for displaced students, assistance for Homeless Children and youth is another. Project School Emergency response to violence. Those are those serve grants that i mentioned a moment ago. Then in the world of higher education, defraying costs of enrolling displaced Students Program as well as Emergency Assistance to institutions of higher education. So we rapidly tried to take the total amount of money and then begin the issue of dividing that based on the applications that we received, which is another part of this process, and then the distribution by program that i mentioned here. I hope that helps a little bit. Yeah. Do you know how much puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands each have drawn out of their restart funds to date . Yes, maam. I can tell you first of all what the appropriation was for each and then a little bit more about drawdown. You mentioned v. I. , puerto rico, and did you mention another one, congresswoman . No. Just Virgin Islands and puerto rico. Yes. For all of these, as i mentioned, the total impact provided by congress was 2. 7 billion. As it relates to the drawdown, puerto rico, out of that, received for restart, 589,170,000 along with other categories of funding, including 70 million, 277,000, and then through project serve, 2 million. Out of that, then, the drawdown schedule, which i also have and if i dont have it right in front of me, we will absolutely get you that. By the way, the drawdowns are posted on the fema website because we work with groups like fema to keep a running tab on not only the total allocations but how much each has been drawing down during that time period. And we will get that to you. But expeditious is the word that we try to look to when it comes to getting these dollars to the places that they need to go. So you dont know exactly how much theyve drawn down puerto rico, for example, of the 589 million . I do know this. I dont have a dollar figure, but its about 5 at this point. Thats been drawn down . Thats been drawn down. And, again, that is a snapshot in time. Even as we sit here, the drawdown process, which is tied to actual expenditures, is changing even while were sitting here today. Mr. Secretary, i know you well enough to know that if you were in charge of education in puerto rico, youd be pretty upset if youd only drawn down 5 of the money. Is there anything you can do to expedite it for puerto rico . This is a year and a half, two years after the event. Thank you, congresswoman. Im sorry. Yes, we work hard with puerto rico, tremendous amount of Technical Assistance and support, with the idea being the more they know, the better the opportunity they will have to more rapidly draw down funds, work through the procurement process, and all of the things that can sometimes slow down the actual drawdown schedule of those funds. So even almost going on two years out, the procurement process that they work with is very complicated, very cumbersome, and indeed is part of the contribution to the process of turning available funds into drawdown funds, which means theyve not only procured what they need, but theyve spent the money on it. Mr. Secretary, respectfully, members, im going to have to run. The gentle ladys time is expired. I now recognize the Ranking Member, mr. Allen, for purpose of questioning the witness. Thank you. Again, assistant secretary, thank you for being with us. Your testimony, you mentioned the creation of the Disaster Recovery unit. Ive got a few questions about that. Your written statement said that the unit will have five fulltime staff. What will their responsibilities be . Yes, sir, Ranking Member. Many federal agencies already have in place fulltime dedicated staff on the issue of disaster and disaster recoveries. We ultimately believe that based on the number of Natural Disasters being identified and the amount of available dollars flowing to them through congress, that it was time that the department of education also install a fulltime dedicated unit to be the number leeiocleu activities on these issues. There will be five people once we are fully staffed up, a person who will direct this operation and four others. They will help us to better coordinate with all of the other federal agencies. They will help us to review our policies, processes, and procedures relative to how we handle Natural Disasters, and they will be an ongoing conduit to communication with people in the field based on both preparation as well as Recovery Efforts through Technical Assistance and support. And were very excited about this. How will this unit interact with the Recovery Support function Leadership Group that you also discussed in your Opening Statement . Yes, sir. That of course is the work we do with fema. We already have regular and ongoing meetings with fema and the other agencies that fema works with in terms of Disaster Preparedness and also Disaster Recovery. There are regular monthly meetings. There are quarterly meetings of leadership. We will continue those, but by having this particular unit, it will give us an even better daytoday conduit with not just fema but all of the other agencies in that case that work on disaster issues. In your statement also, you indicated that the department has learned a number of lessons over the last couple of years and is taking steps to improve its response capabilities. I know that, you know, in georgia we recently had the hurricane michael, and of course this is not the department of education. Its through usda. But the system that was used was not particularly userfriendly. Very complex. A lot of compliance. And obviously we want to make sure that every dollar is spent where its supposed to be spent. And presumably one of these steps in the creation of the Disaster Recovery unit we just discussed, what could you provide as far as more details about how the department is otherwise improving its protocols to assist affected states and communities both before and after these Natural Disasters . Ranking member allen and members, that question is a very important one as it relates to this group of individuals that im speaking about in terms of the Disaster Recovery unit. The idea that everything that we have done is based on a historic track record of events and response. And yet we are not satisfied that in every one of those cases, we are as a department where we want to be to assure Rapid Response, rapid appropriation of funds made available by congress, and ultimately the monitoring and review of how those funds are spent. It goes back a little bit to congresswoman shalalas question. And they will be an everyday, on the ground unit that will help support the effort of expediting in the future even better the work that we do. One quick shoutout to congress. The fact that congress essentially is using in each of these recent appropriations i rattled off the list of programs before that they have remained consistent up to and including this most recent round of funding that you all approved just the other day is enormously helpful so that we dont have to go back and reinvent wheel as long the way. We wont have to rework that effort. So by working with congress, by working with the other agencies, were totally committed to review our process to assure we can not only expedite, but also as you mentioned, Ranking Member, be true to the fact that we are spending other peoples money in that regard. Exactly. Well, thank you so much. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Thank you very much, mr. Allen. At this time i now recognize ms. Morelle. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing today. Thank you, mr. Secretary, for joining us today. The United States must do everything in its power to address the existential threat of Climate Change including mitigating the devastating impacts of Natural Disasters on our communities. It is undeniable that stability of our climate is deteriorating. Each year we see spikes in extreme weather patterns, rising sea levels, and increasing severe Natural Disasters that displace families, destroy properties and ecosystems and even end lives. And we are experiencing unprecedented streaks of tornadoes ripping through the midwest, Deadly Wildfires in california, catastrophic hurricanes in the southeast and in the caribbean, and dangerous flooding threatening more than 20 states. And the devastation that follows these Natural Disasters leaves communities struggling to rebuild and return to their daily lives, often never truly recovering. I want to talk for a moment about my district of rochester and the devastating effects of floodwaters. In 2017, the district was hit hard by record flooding that eroded lake shore, crippled like side businesses, disrupted educational institutions. Nearly two years later, Many Community members are still struggling to recover, but the impacts of Climate Change dont wait around for us. In fact, just this week, lake ontario, water levels hit a new record high. Yet again, the district is faced with the reality of rising flood levels exacerbated by strong winds and high waves which are expected to continue for several more weeks. So recognizing the negative effects of Natural Disasters on our educational system, canceled bus routes, school disclosures, displaced communities, destroyed infrastructure and traumatized children and the stability that School Provides for a student is upended by Natural Disasters. So planning for the future and improving the ability of our communities to withstand, recover, and adapt to weatherrelated events is a requirement and requires a willingness to face the facts that Climate Change is real despite what people and people can argue endlessly about the impact our species has had on it, but it is folly to ignore the fact this is happening and do everything in our power to curb Global Warming and protect the planet. Im particularly interested, mr. Secretary, in preventive measures that we could take now to ready ourselves for the inevitable Natural Disasters of tomorrow. By tomorrow, i mean literally, not necessarily figuratively. Recognizing all this, im curious as to whether the department actually talks to the National Weather service or other associated agencies around modeling that they may be doing and what the threats are to School Communities around the country. Do i do tha do you do that . Yes, sir. I dont know how regular a basis, but the department does participate, again, in all of the Committee Work that is done by fema with all of the different agencies, and of course those kinds of issues, as you probably imagine, are discussed with great frequency. Im happy to hear that. And is the department engaged in data gathering relative to tracking Property Damage and whether there are increased levels of it around the country . Do you work with local districts or states on that and also number of days missed due to Natural Disasters . Have you been tracking that data . We are, congressman, tracking data relative to issues like that through the scas, the states themselves, who are in part responsible for tracking that data for the every Student Succeeds act. For example, chronic an se absenteeism, days out, are things that are tracked. Attributable to these Natural Disasters . Do they category that . Some of that we are. We hope by standing up this fulltime operation, we could do a better job in the future of being able to take longitudinal looks at more information. That would be great. To the degree you could share that with us would be great. Im also interested, i was a chair of the Insurance Company in my prior life, and we looked at ways to mitigate and resiliency prior to the impact of Natural Disaster, strengthening schools physically, emergency evacuation. Can you just describe in the remaining 20 seconds i have of my time, just give me an overview of what youre doing relative to commune cating with states and districts about mitigation efforts . Yes, sir. We do a tremendous amount of work through the various education associations, the meetings that they have, to the state as well as the local level on preparation for, as most people who dealt with emergency situations realize, a great deal is determined in the preparation process as to how youre able to recover following the actual event. We work very hard on those issues. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. At this time id like to recognize the Ranking Member of the full committee, the gentle lady from north carolina, dr. Foxx for her five minutes of questioning. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, secretary brogan, for being here. Its been over a year since the first awards were made to areas impacted by the hurricanes and wildfires of 2017. I have a series of quick questions about these funds. Do you have data on how these funds are being spent . Ranking member, first of all, thank you for being here and thank you for the question. But to all of the members, the answer to that is generally yes. People are not required to put in a plan per se, but everyone who receives these dollars must put in a dobudget, which is in some ways a skeletal structure of a plan. Those budgets are what we use to track expenditures and for what categories, et cetera. Thank you. Are states able to draw down funds and allocate them to schools effectively and efficiently, and if not, are there particular roadblocks that are preventing funds from being used effectively . Ranking member, as you might imagine and im sure you do in the direct aftermath of these events, sometimes it is rather chaotic, and therefore it takes a little bit of time for people to settle back in and be able to take a serious stepaway look at exactly what their needs are and how that can be done. That is part, by the way, of some of what some suggest is a delay in getting people their money. In order to fill out the application that they must, they have to be able to take a look at what theyre doing and turn those needs into an application that we then use to build them their original allocation from what we receive from congress and then, over time, refine that with them for additional drawdowns. I gathered from what you were saying, although im sorry i missed your Opening Statement, that the department is setting up fulltime people who are going to work with this yearround. So could you tell us what Technical Assistance or other support is the department providing to particularly hardhit areas to help them with procurement and contracting . I think you alluded to that earlier. Ranking member, in some cases because procurement is typically handled at the local level appropriately, procurement as i mentioned can be one of those delay points in the process based on how complicated some procurement processes are. It doesnt make that process bad. It is theirs, and they must work through that in order to do it. What we can do is continue to provide Technical Assistance, and we will not only continue that, well expand that with this new team to try to make it clearer, when and where necessary, as to how the procurement process at the local level and the needs that we have to be compliant come together more expeditiously to be able to move that into dollars available. All right. Thank you again. The departments past role in Disaster Relief has been fairly limited both in terms of the responsibilities your agency has taken on and the number and type of relief efforts the departments been directly involved in. That seems to be changing from your comments. As you ramp up the departments Disaster Response effort, how are you structuring those efforts to allow you to respond to this wildly different kinds of disasters such as hurricanes, typhoons, wildfires, all sometimes happening at the same time . Ranking member, i have here a list that i have for reference, but it contains all of the locations that were affected in 2017 when the bba was originally created, the bipartisan act. The 2018 and the 2019. There are dozens of locations identified in congressional legislation from that 2017 time until now. So to your good point, we have to be proactive these are Natural Disasters. We recognize there are things we should do our best to respond to. Awesome it is my understanding that all the federal agencies are here simply to lend support to the local people. They are the ones on the ground. I think it is very important that we not hold Unrealistic Expectations to the department of education for the responsibilities that on the ground everyday. They can on their own time debate Climate Change. I would like to recognize ms. Davis from california. It is very nice to have you here. I know you had mentioned there were only able to draw down about five percent. You have been at this for quite a while. What you think could be done quite differently. We have to continue to work with people who have a huge amount of responsibility and also how to meet a huge number of obligation at the state and local level. It is trying to bring those two things together to create a more seamless system of communication and expectation. It is many hurdles for people to cross is with memphis today. I heralded the people of the state and local level are working toward that. Part of it is trying to build up gross resilience. So that people do not have to think about it. I remember we talked about the reverse time takes to Exchange Business cards in the middle of a disaster. We have to know what once counterpart is at different levels. In that regard, we talked about the five percent team. How about the whole government approach as well. How many different agencies beyond being on paper are really engaged in problem solving in this area. Aggressively before disaster strikes. I agree. I was with the federal government cannot possibly be doing the job of the state and local government. They should be aware of best practices weather have been. They have been so devastated by these disasters. I just have a conversation with people at fema. They were expressing appreciation. Just did a presentation for not just fema. For the group that fema brings together on a regular basis in terms of the regular things that we have to deal with on our side of the issue. They found it to be extraordinarily helpful. Really falls under the ages of continued or better communication by everyone as we move forward. I go back along with the congresswoman to remember andrew in south florida when i lived there. I have to tell you, we are already way back to some of those Natural Disasters and others in terms of lessons learned. We should not be repeating mistakes of the past. I appreciate that. One of the real issues is where young people even preschool age and other can be housed during the horrible classes that they are living through and wondering about the role of the federal government as well. It comes to finding the facilities of resources in neighboring communities and in some cases far away from a disaster. Theyre not in the areas that are urban and there are lots of choices where people may go. You mentioned it earlier. Technically speaking. Every federal agency has the potential to be involved in disaster preparation. You may imagine being here in washington dc. Some agencies are more front and center on the issue. When we meet with fema for example, we are sitting around the table with hhs. We are meeting with the doj based on the laws. We are meeting with federal agencies that have a clear and distinct role. Technically speaking, the federal government is an open book when it comes to the potential of helping to support the things that matter. Thank you very much. Mr. Taylor. In the legislation of the education committee. One of the things we dealt with was some scheduling. Testing requirements. 73,000 minutes. When you have a disaster and this does happen, people are able to set the schedule around and lengthen school days and minimize the extension of the school year. Are there federal laws that call scheduling issues you are finding . I can tell you this. We have taking for example the every Student Succeeds act and not through that to make certain that it drives as well is to be expected with what kind of flexibilities are included in the act that can be utilized. Not just in general but as well as in postNatural Disaster situation. The timing of testing is a good example of that. It is possible to move the time the test was scheduled if that helps the situation to delay a father in this q to be able to get people settled in before the test is issued for one small example. There other possibilities. We are actually learning a great deal from states like yours. In terms of what additional flexibilities still compliant with the law. Nevertheless may get people other opportunities that they currently do not have for the future. If it does require legislative authority, we will quickly turn to you all and hope for support. We had flexibility. If we think we need more we will come back and asked. We will be determining overtime with the help and assistance. They are the ones we listened to as to the impacts of all these things in terms of making any changes necessary. Attended comes and takes on the school. They need to push the test back one month. The schedule was written as though nothing ever happens. The way the testing is approached, each one individual as far as waivers is concerned and what looks at is the time of the year of the event. As it relates to the testing schedule. The size of the event. Other factors that determine what possibilities there may be to work around the Natural Disaster to do was just to be done according to the every Student Succeeds act. It is never a destination point because were always looking for different ways to achieve that. I just want to be sure. As far as you can tell, you have the flexibility needed. Yes sir. Integration what . At this time i would like to recognize the chairman. s thank you for being with us today. Want to follow through on the questions. A lot of the discussion has been on the budget. The effect. Obviously students were out of school for some time. Are they back in school . What has the experience been like. Generally speaking, students are back in school from previous disasters. As you know, the disasters unfolding as we are sitting here today and by virtue of the fact that those disasters are playing out. The idea preparation for these events and recovery for these events always keep in mind the importance of reopening schools. Also keeping them open if it is possible in the preparatory way to make certain that young people have a place to go every single day. Chronic absenteeism can be a problem. Just student missing school. Anything we can do to bring down the time the students missed school as it relates to the Natural Disaster is critical to us. Can you say a word about the School Achievement . One of the things we look at is how people are faring in general based on the temples that lie within the act. Will look at not only general testing and results. We also look at some of the subgroups that are laid out to see if individual subgroups are faring at the same time. We look at those with each state. To determine just how students are looking generally. We would also like to be able to begin to look at how students may be. Not just anecdotal to see if Natural Disasters or having sizable impacts on student achievement is demonstrated through what is made responsible them for the act. I guess my question. When you load, what did you see . We are not looking that way gesture. As we get better developed with how we respond to these things and as we look towards the Research Community to assist us , among other things, those are some of the things we want to begin to look up. Not just the recovery effort itself. Also as you mentioned, the recovery and the impact it has on teaching and learning. We need to get that information as soon as possible. It is possible some of the students we have regressed to not learning the way they should be. We may need Additional Resources to correct. We will not going to we get the data. Before coming to the Education Department, as we heard in florida, vulnerable to the texas manmade Climate Change. What did they do to prepare due to Climate Change like increased risk of hurricane and flooding. As it relates to school operations. I can say for is considered to be one of the leaders in the country in terms of preparation and Recovery Efforts when it comes to Natural Disasters. I was really proud to work with the man and woman to florida in terms of both inference. How you deal with those that do occur. I saw my share of hurricanes for example during my 35 years in the state of florida. Essentially if you asked them would probably enter the same way i do from the department of education. Were constantly looking for ways no matter how good we think we are to be even better going forward. The number of the events. The Member States impacted. Our obligation is increasing as a department along with the federal agencies. I do not have time for you to enter this. The National Climate assessment warned that Climate Change is going to impact losses to american infrastructure and property. They also advise a sustained global effort to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions could help reverse that. If you could provide for the record with the department is doing to deal with the effects of Climate Change, i would appreciate it. I would like that for the record. That you mr. Chairman. Now i would like to recognize mr. Grubman for five minutes. When you deal with things like hurricanes. Or the recent disaster bill. How much of that jesus get involved and start construction. It is good to see you. In answer to your question, when it comes to actual construction, we may be involved in small rapid turnaround for some Recovery Efforts. Largely, those would be in determined with the available funds that you provide to us with things like some remodeling. On a quick turnaround versus. Major construction. The major reconstruction efforts are left to fema. Are you involved a lot in completing children in different places i do not miss class . We will be involved in things like four examples, the placement of textbooks. That is very typical. Replacement of technology that is lost as a result of Natural Disasters. Primarily when we talk about Natural Disasters youre talking about hurricanes . Those are the big ones. Not alone but those are the big ones. Can you describe the difference between the federal government that will be involved in a hurricane . In this decade versus the 1960s has a big hurricanes . The difference between now and then. I can tell you anecdotally that after 35 years in florida and a variety of different Public Service capacities, we are Getting Better and better as a nation in helping to deal with the preparation for and the aftermath of Natural Disasters. Whether there hurricanes or wildfires tornadoes or volcanoes. And not only in part because we have to, but also because people are communicating better and i think congress is another good example. The responses to these things have changed very much over a long period of years for the better as well. For always willing to collectively give more money. To to describe ways we are doing things differently today. I do not know how familiar you are with how we handle things in the 90s. Human examples of things that have changed. I think we are doing a better job collectively of preparation. In the early days, perhaps whatever that means, we have spent most of our time and energy on recovery. That is still necessary. I think we as a nation are doing much more and a much better job of dealing with how we deal with the Natural Disaster when one befalls us as opposed to how we will recover once we have to deal with one. I go back to the group. We talk at the federal level. All of the agencies on a very regular basis. Is dedicated to preparation. Training of people at the local level. Providing onsite review of schools for example. They can identify ways that the individual school to better prepare itself in the event of a Natural Disaster. Those kinds of things not only discuss readily. Technical assistance support how websites are set up three federal agencies to be able to make available to people specific recommendations as to how to better prepare for the future. Thank you very much. At this time i would like to recognize ms. Hayes of connecticut. Thank you for being her. I also want to talk about what happened as part of the Recovery Efforts. I have some very personal experience. It was right after katrina. We welcome students from native louisiana into our school system. Not really knowing where they were in the academic spectrum. Saw their families dealing with trauma. More recently, after hurricane maria. Must it welcomed over 2000 students. My district that ever present. To of this it is. Welcome more students than any other community. This increased our bilingual population. Where would we house the students. How do we hire new teachers. I guess what i am thinking about , i saw the phenomenon that flourished after hurricane katrina. In effort to reopen all of these schools, charges that were run by different independent operators were open. I recently rented to a parent who merely for one of these communities, talked about how the school could no longer accommodate her son with special needs. A year later it closed. Another school moved in. There was some serious problem. I am concerned that the pattern we saw in katrina will be duplicated. You stated that puerto rico would become a beacon of choice. To achieve that goal. I saw teachers struggle to get recertified. The proper credentials. A sit here today. I have been on the receiving end of this. My question is, what exactly has been the role of the department. The support we provide on the school of choice is ongoing irregardless. It was there before the storms and continued separating the issue of recovery from the issue of school choice. There have been no attempts to ramp up those efforts or alter those efforts as a tool to deal with the Recovery Efforts. If that answers your question. There is no attempt to promote father. To replace the public system with a more charter specific system . No more or less than the Natural Disaster. As you know, the infrastructure in puerto rico before the storms was facing very difficult. That includes loss of students before the storm. That includes facilities and classrooms. School buildings that needed refurbishment replacement. The problems that in many cases puerto rico is our present. I can tell you that one of the main challenges that i saw was access to student record. Then went to get certified into another state. People have gone and they cannot access any other academic data. Before they cannot pursue certification in other states. Outside of what we see on the ground. Part in transitioning students is not having access to the information that we needed to the property placed in. Even though they were attending schools or onsite. They were not receiving the academic education that they needed. We were not sure what to do with them. They were being housed for several weeks. You cannot really prepare for that. That is something that we really need to have a more proactive plan to address. I think we actually have time for mr. Thompson of pennsylvania. Thank you so much. Great to see you. Congratulations. To our continued service. Everything you have done nationwide. Your greatly appreciated. My first question, i appreciate you being here today. Im of the elementary and secondary education act probably requires project serve funds to be awarded entities with a learning environment has been disrupted. Can you explain more detail the criteria the department uses. How much entity receives. This can become very bureaucratic. I will not try to go there. I will try very hard to answer your question. It comes from the congress. It was made available some years ago for what is considered to be the availability of flexibility and Rapid Response in the aftermath of acts of trauma and violence or has become a part of this Natural Disaster. Requires application for people of the local level and then based on the application, there are three ways to receive money. One is that you can apply for a grant for six months which could be up to 50,000. One is for a longer larger grant of up to 18 months for immediate needs based on restoration to an appropriate learning environment that can be up to 250,000. Is the Natural Disasters that continue to grow and come up, larger rewards are being made by the secretary and in this case for 2017 and some for 2018. Minute response that goes as high as one or 2 million. Based on the available projects that we have. We have seen such catastrophic disasters. Hurricanes and flooding. Wildfires in the western part of this there. The question i have is on a smaller scale. A lot of the country is getting drier. Pennsylvania is getting wetter. Where we are not really having flooding as much, the groundwater is so full. Some schools have been closed because of mold. It is not a fault of the school district. The Maintenance Crew is doing great stuff. It is that the combination of all of that water soaking into the water table. We have had schools close from time to time. Mostly obviously shortterm. I am not aware of anyone that has been told longterm. Is that the type of thing that the school district, these kids are being relocated . Last longer than other times . That would maybe be under consideration for assistance . For a temporary relocation for educational purposes . It could be. We know when it comes to some of our more remote locations. People have used some of those project dollars to release alternative space. When the entire facility was rendered useless. That project had that kind of flexibility attached to it. Some of the money we have. We have recently to get to the rest of this fiscal year. Just to make sure if we get deeper into the fiscal year. We have available funds. I certainly recognized the catastrophic issues. It is good to see you again. I recognize myself for five minutes. Do you agree with the findings of the administrations National Climate assessment that man made Climate Change is causing great damage to our country and must be reversed . As you may expect, myself and others regularly get questions about Climate Change. Especially doing the kinds of jobs that we do. Believe me it is not meant to be clipped. I think like most recognized the changes that are taking place in the climate. I have been in education for over 40 years. I am not a scientist. The direct result of all of that. I cannot tell you about it. We rely on that. I do know this. Out of my 14yearold son this readily. Each of us has to be a responsible steward of our little slice of the planet in which we live. We have to share it. To combat Climate Change. We work on the education front. We deal with schools and teachers and with children. I can then on the flipside tell you all over the country, our community continues to talk about climate. Making sure that all 50 million of them are responsible stewards in their own way. It essentially goes on every day in america schools. Thank you. I have other questions. Mr. Secretary. Two days ago on monday. 165 million. The department of education to distribute for school recovery. Along with the secretary to do so. Will use that funding in the next 90 days. Could you tell us how the department will provide effective assistance. We will of course continue to respond to immediate needs as we have in the past. Whenever and wherever necessary. Event beyond that, the legislation that passed also includes a responsibility that we develop within the department within the next 30 days following the finding of that legislation a spending plan for the dollars that have been provided by congress and congress will have availability of that spending plan after that 30 day period of time. Then as always we are responsible for providing reports on a regular basis as to how dollars are formed in. You also stated in your testimony that the department created a Disaster Recovery unit. Plan by a director and three support staff. Devoted to fulltime to managing the department Disaster Response efforts and help the Department Work more effectively with congress. What i would like to know. Part of the creation, how we fulltime employees were dedicated to assisting schools Disaster Response efforts. What have they done in california and the Virgin Islands . Thank you mr. Chairman. Let me parse it out a little bit by way of response. In the department, no one has been devoted thus far. 100 percent to the issue of Natural Disasters. We have many people who have fulfilled that role in part across not only the office of elementary but also the department. This will be our first time effort into organizing around a group of people who will have that responsibility 247. In that regard, we recently did a check to see how many people hours have been invested recently in the Natural Disaster work based on all the people involved through Technical Assistance and support. Everybody in our department in some way shape or form has the potential to be involved in this process and with the development of a fulltime unit, they can help us better coordinate even those activities. My time is up. You very much and thank you for being here and joining us today. My pleasure. We are going to take a recess so members can run and cast their votes. I think we will have a quorum once theyre done. [inaudible conversations]