Schools in Little Rock and elsewhere will continue offering the course after the state's education department said it would not count it for college credit.

And levels grew in every other state as families took matters into their own hands to ensure their child's needs were met, whether academically or emotionally. "Districts now have more staff than ever and fewer students," said Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University's Edunomics Lab, in June. "So what happens next?"

There is one hack every educator can use—regardless of subject or class size—to improve the status quo: increase school-home communication.

Superintendents and tech leaders should seriously consider creating "a new districtwide cybersecurity ecosystem" of sustainable policies for safeguarding student data and other sensitive digital assets.