Orphaned classes can be an unexpected result of deleting or suspending a google account.

When an account is manually deleted in Google you are prompted to transfer user data to another user. This does not include Google Classroom classes, so any active classes owned by a user who is deleted enter an orphaned state, showing as “Unknown User” in google. The class can no longer be updated because google cannot update a class owned by an unknown user.


How to prevent orphaned Classes:

If a leaving teacher owns classes, it’s recommended that you transfer ownership to another teacher or a placeholder account (maybe your admin user?) Just add another teacher to the group in smartadmin and set the new teacher to be the 'Main Teacher' Hit save and the Classroom Owner will become that new teacher.

In this screenshot you'll see that Katie Burrows is the current Main Teacher and Classroom Owner and we are about to set realsmart mentor as the new Main Teacher. This will set realmart mentor as the Google Classroom owner.

 

How to restore orphaned Classes if you have already deleted the google account:

If a teachers account has already been manually deleted in google admin just search for the user in google admin > recently deleted users and Restore the users account.
It can take 24-48hrs for the account to become fully restored and google classes to re-link. Once the account is re-active you can sign into smartadmin and change the Main Teacher as explained above- The new Main Teacher becomes the new owner of the class and the class can be used again.