House Bill 415 was proposed in the North Carolina General Assembly during the 2025–26 legislative session March 18, 2025. If passed, it would change the graduation requirements for high school students, specifically affecting social studies and math requirements.
If the bill is passed, students entering ninth grade during the 2026–27 school year would be required to attain a passing grade in each of the following classes: Math I, Math II, Computer Science, and a fourth math class that aligns with their post-secondary education plan. Previously, Math III was a required course, and computer science was optional.
“Whether in Athens or in college, those [math III] topics are very much going to be seen again,” said Ginger Harrell, math teacher at Athens Drive.
The Math III curriculum expands students’ knowledge of algebra, geometry and statistics, as well as introducing trigonometry and new function families. It teaches students more about complex numbers and inverse functions. Math III furthers students’ education, as well as builds up knowledge for college courses and real life.
“[There is] a lot of trig, which is real-world application,” said Harrell. “A lot about circles, and obviously, there’s circles in the real world.”
Many careers use concepts taught in Math III, especially careers that interpret complex models and advanced statistics. These math topics are often used in fields like science, technology, finance and engineering, all of which are high-growth and have desirable salaries.
While it would no longer be a requirement for graduation, Math III would still be offered to all high school students who want to pursue a career in which it would be helpful. Public schools would also require that administrators encourage students to talk with their counselor about a math study plan that would help them achieve their post-high school and career goals.
The bill would also recategorize computer science as a math class and remove some licensing barriers to teach it. This would mean any teacher could instruct that class if the school decides that the teacher has the necessary knowledge and skills to do so.
Computer science would teach students about data, programming and algorithms, as well as how computing affects society and real-world applications. The class often uses hands-on projects and real-world scenarios to solidify students’ understanding of the topics taught.
“I don’t really like the idea of having a computer science class, and I don’t think a lot of other kids would either,” said Ava Recchion, freshman at Athens Drive.
Computer science would primarily help students whose career goals include jobs that involve coding, computer systems, data and cybersecurity. Careers in the computer science field are constantly changing and evolving, with many different branches and career options.
“I think that [computer science] sounds great, and it seems like a world of where we are in 2025,” said Harrell.
The social studies graduation requirements would also be changed so that students would need to complete the following classes: World history, United States history, Economics and Personal Finance and Founding Principles of the United States of America and North Carolina: Civic Literacy (commonly known as civics).
In their civics class, students would need to read and analyse in their entirety documents related to U.S. history. These documents include: the U.S. and N.C. Constitutions, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation and more.
“I like the idea of the Founding Principles class. Reading stuff like the Constitution and Declaration of Independence could help us understand why America is the way it is,” said Recchion.
Along with the new class requirements, students would have to get a passing grade on a new standardized United States history test, with questions taken from the U.S. citizenship test. The Math III standardized test would no longer be a required test for students not taking the class.
“I think the history test is a good idea. It makes sure we all know the important parts of American history,” said Recchion.
