The looming battle in K-12 education isn't just about erasing learning loss and repairing children's damaged mental health. It's also about steering clear of a return to the status quo.

Gone are days of back-to-back classes from early morning through mid-afternoon. Now, Churchill County students in secondary grades take two courses at a time in six-week increments.

Even if Angela McVicars and her school-age daughters started the day with functioning internet, a sense of foreboding clouded their remote learning. They knew it was a matter of when, not if, the internet connection would suddenly freeze and require a manual reboot — a process that could take a handful of minutes or close to an hour if a call to their service provider was needed.

With school buildings shut down through at least the end of the academic year, children are interacting with fewer adults who are on the lookout for signs of abuse and neglect. The state has received 14 percent fewer reports this March than 2019 — a trend experts think is not because there is less abuse during a time of great economic hardship and emotional strain, but because of underreporting.