Bill > HB3021

This bill modifies existing state law regarding high school graduation requirements, establishing a new standard diploma pathway for students entering the eighth grade in the 2025-2026 school year that requires 23 curriculum units, including specific courses in English, mathematics, science, history, and citizenship skills, with a focus on "applied knowledge of content" and "rigor" (meaning a thorough, exhaustive, and accurate level of difficulty appropriate for the grade level), while also allowing for flexibility through "locally approved" courses (those approved by a local school district board and submitted to the State Department of Education) and "nonstandard course waivers" (a process for districts to offer courses not fully aligned with state standards). The bill also outlines alternative diploma options for students with significant cognitive disabilities who participate in the Oklahoma Alternate Assessment Program (OAAP), clarifies requirements for passing the U.S. naturalization test as a graduation condition, and introduces provisions for waiving Oklahoma history requirements for military children, with an emergency clause making the act effective immediately upon passage and approval, and a general effective date of July 1, 2026.