@chris1
Here is an option that makes it a template:
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1HEFyrdgSoIrG9Xuczx1ywUjhyLosTzWUh3H3IY9j1KE/template/preview
Instead of “/edit” put “/template/preview”. Also using Google classroom is a good option for setting projects/making copies for all students.
I used Google drawings with our Year 5 (Uk, 4th grade USA) students to design Christmas decorations, as it was their first time using it there was a fair amount of tidying/setting the colours correct. I then combined them into files for whole sheets of materials using inkscape. It would have been great to have known as save as pdf being a better option back then!
Tip if you do resort to svg for another reason, select one of the “invisible” objects, then go to edit, select same “fill/stroke” to delete all duplicate invisible objects.