The pandemic had a devastating impact on learning, experts say, with lasting ramifications for the world of education at large. During the chaotic period when California families were running scared, public schools were shuttered and playgrounds off-limits, an estimated 152,000 California children went missing from classrooms, according to a collaboration between Stanford professor Thomas Dee and The Associated Press. Now, after a new analysis of the most recent data, experts say they know what happened to roughly 65,000 of those children, meaning the number of missing kids has shrunk considerably, leaving only an estimated 87,000 children still missing from public school rolls. The mystery of exactly where they went lingers, however. Forging stronger connections with families who face challenges with school attendance may also be part of the solution. "The reasons behind student absenteeism are incredibly complex, and so the responses have to be complex as well,” said Heather Hough, director of Policy Analysis for California Education, noting that the first step should be asking families what challenges they face coming to school.