I am not sure what/how the issue was solved. But the poor running issue started because the air filter element (i have a cold air intake) broke and was sucked into the throttle body lodging it open.

The no start was probably a combination of things I did trying to restart the car on the side of the road 1. killing the battery cranking it over 2. blowing the relay 3. i pulled a few fuses to reset the ecu thought I could make it the rest of the way to work if the safe mode was erased.

The ignition switch was the recommendation of iterate searches. it should have only been $40, but when my students removed it, they did not put the key in ACC so the snapped off the keyed lobe. Hence the new lock cylinder housing.

I'm dumbfounded honestly. I still think they must have automatically reset the computer or something during the diagnosis work or something?