Defense Department students start new school year in wake of staffing, course cuts

Students on overseas military bases returned to class Monday at schools run by the Department of Defense Education Activity, which reduced its teaching staff over the summer in order to spend elsewhere.

At Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, parents assigned to the USS Ronald Reagan arrived home from deployment Saturday, just in time to take part in back-to-school rituals. Last year, the aircraft carrier was at sea on the first day of school.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Ron McGinnis Sr. smiled wide as he brought his first-grader, Ron “R.J.” McGinnis Jr., to Sullivans Elementary School for the first time.

“It means so much to be able to see him off,” McGinnis said. “He was so excited last night.”

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