On March 17, 2025, the North Carolina General Assembly filed a bill that — if ratified — would change high school graduation standards for math and social studies. These standards would go into effect in the 2026-27 school year.
The bill in question — House Bill 415 — was in committee on May 7, 2025. The bill was originally intended to split up current math courses and change math graduation requirements, but its focus has changed. Edition 2 is the most updated version of the bill.
The bill would not affect most current Leesville students, but they still have opinions about the potential changes.
The current math high school graduation requirements are passing NC Math 1, 2, and 3, as well as an additional fourth math course. The current social studies graduation requirements are World History, Civic Literacy, American History, and Economics and Personal Finance.
If enacted, this bill would remove the NC Math 3 graduation requirement, as well as the standardized end-of-course exam for the subject. Schools could still offer the course if demand is high enough.
“With math, it’s always subjective. Some people really like it, some people really hate it… I think it would be better to have more maths than not have the maths,” said Tyler Cook, sophomore.
In place of Math 3, Computer Science would become a new math graduation requirement.
“I don’t think [Computer Science] is a good substitute. It’s a different genre, and it’s not very math-y [in my experience]. It’s definitely not a substitute for Math 3. I feel like you should still have all four math requirements,” said Natalie Vargas Kitchens, junior, and AP Computer Science student.
Currently, Leesville only offers AP Computer Science courses. However, the bill includes provisions to get more teachers licensed for the subject, which would allow schools to add academic and honors levels.
“It’s good to know how to code… because [Computer Science] is a growing industry, and it’s a good skill to have. People used to need to know how to write cursive, but now people need to know how to code, in the same way. It’s like a new language,” said Vargas Kitchens.
“I think [adding Computer Science] is great. I actually just took Principles of Computer Science right now. I think it’s a good class. I think it will be very important in the future, especially with AI,” said Cook.
The bill also includes provisions for enrollment in foundational math courses. Students who score a Level 1 or 2 on the eighth grade end-of-course exam will be enrolled in Foundations of Math 1 before taking NC Math 1. Students who score a Level 1 or 2 on the NC Math 1 end-of-course exam will be enrolled in Foundations of Math 2 before taking NC Math 2.
Students who score a Level 1 or 2 on an end-of-course exam can be exempt from taking a Foundations math course, if the student’s parents or principal provide consent.
In summary, math graduation requirements would be passing NC Math 1, NC Math 2, Computer Science, and an additional fourth math that “aligns with students’ career goals.”
The bill would also update the curriculum requirements for Civic Literacy courses. It specifies required topics and documents that teachers must cover in their classes. Some of the specified documents are not included in the curriculum for AP US Government, so teachers would have to add additional information to their lessons.
The final change to graduation requirements would be the creation of a standardized test for American History. The questions on the test would be from the pool of questions that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services administers as part of the naturalization process. All of these questions are publicly available, according to the bill.
There are currently end-of-course exams for some math, English, and science courses, so adding an American History exam would not be out of nowhere.
“I don’t think standardized tests are that bad. We have them in the other classes so it makes sense to have [American History] fall in line with the rest of them,” said Cook.
Some parts of the bill seem like they could benefit students, like adding Computer Science and slowing down NC Math 1 and 2 for students who need it. However, other parts of the bill seem like they could give students an easy way out, like the omission of Math 3.
High school is not meant to be easy; it is meant to challenge students so that they can learn. The primary sponsors of the bill are these three Republican lawmakers: David Willis, Brian Biggs, Heather Rhyne.
If you have concerns about the bill, reach out to your representatives.
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