As the long summer days wind down and the beginning of the school year nears, little Billy Flaggins, age 6, was super excited for the first day of first grade: “I’m going to school! I’m six years old! I’m gonna be in Mrs. Handalf’s class! It’s like an adventure.”

Billy was initially homeschooled for kindergarten, so tomorrow would be his first day of public school at Mordor K-12. It was going to be a big…