Bill Summary for H 8 (2023-2024)

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Summary date: 

Jan 25 2023

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2023-2024 Session
House Bill 8 (Public) Filed Wednesday, January 25, 2023
AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS CHANGES TO THE GENERAL STATUTES.
Intro. by Paré, Torbett, Blackwell, Hardister.

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Bill summary

Section 1

Amends GS 115C-12 by adding to the powers and duties of the State Board of Education (Board), applicable beginning with students entering grade nine in the 2024-25 school year. Requires the Board to require that one full credit of a computer science course (that is, as defined in new GS 115C-81.90 below and approved by a local board of education) be used to fulfill one academic credit in science, except for the requirement for biology or physical science courses. Requires the Board to set forth criteria to determine if middle school courses qualify for the computer science credit.    

Section 2  

Enacts new GS 115C-81.90 setting forth computer science requirements and offerings in high school and middle school. Requires students to complete a high school level computer science course to graduate unless they enrolled in a North Carolina public school after completing eleventh grade on or after July 1, 2023. Allows for computer science courses to fulfill other science requirements adopted by the Board as set forth in Section 1, above. Defines computer science as the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, hardware and software designs, implementation, and impact on society, as defined by the North Carolina Computer Science Standards. Defines computer science course as a course set in a middle school or high school that teaches computer science as a standalone subject for one semester or a full-year course. Requires the content of computer science courses to focus on teaching students how to create new technologies as well as the use of existing technologies. Defines exploratory computer science course as a course set in a middle school that serves as an introduction to computer science and surveys the field of computer science (prohibits an exploratory computer science course from satisfying the computer science graduation requirement).  

Effective July 1, 2025, and beginning with the 2025-26 school year, middle schools are required to offer an exploratory computer science course. Requires the Board, in consultation with the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), to adopt a list of approved courses that fulfill the exploratory computer science requirement by July 1, 2025.  Requires the list to be made public on DPI’s website.  

Requires the Board, in consultation with DPI, to adopt a list of approved courses that fulfill the computer science requirement by July 1, 2023. Requires the list to be made public on DPI’s website. Allows students to take computer science requirement in middle school or high school so long as the course meets or exceeds the high school standards requirements established by the Board. Requires both exploratory computer science courses and computer science courses to meet in person; allows for a virtual or distance option when an in-person setting is not feasible.   

From July 1, 2024 until July 1, 2026, allows for public school units to submit a signed notification to DPI certifying that a computer science course was not available for pupils to fulfill the computer science requirement and is waived for those pupils. Requires DPI to maintain a list of those public school units.  

With the exception of the exploratory computer science course requirement (discussed above), the remainder of the act is effective when it becomes law and applies to students entering grade nine in the 2024-25 school year.