S257 - 2026 Appropriations Act. (SL 2026-41)

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Session Year 2024

Overview: Sections 6.13, 7.12, and 8.15 of S.L. 2026-41 (Senate Bill 257) establish the Lighthouse Math Project (Project) for Wake Technical Community College (Wake Tech) and the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) during the 2026-2027 through 2029-2030 school years. The purpose of the Project is to increase the percentage of high school students who are (i) eligible to complete college-level mathematics upon graduation from high school and (ii) able to complete college-level math either through dual enrollment while in high school or within the first year of college enrollment.

High school students at East Wake High School and Knightdale High School can participate in the Project at the Wake Tech East campus of Wake Tech. WCPSS must partner with SparkNC to align the Project participants' ongoing efforts at the Wake Tech East campus with the design and implementation of the Project.

WCPSS, in collaboration with Wake Tech, must contract with Khan Academy, Inc. (Khan), for the use of the artificial intelligence tutoring program, Khanmigo. Students at participating high schools must have access to Khanmigo from the time of enrollment in high school through attendance at Wake Tech East. Wake Tech must collaborate with Khan to do all of the following:

  • Develop and deliver at least one Khanmigo-centered gateway college math course to be offered to high school students at participating high schools and graduates of participating high schools who attend Wake Tech East.
  • Develop a Khanmigo-centered developmental math course sequence that will be provided by Wake Tech faculty to students from participating high schools in one of the following formats:
    • As part of a Career and College Promise Career Ready Pathway.
    • As supplement to a Career and College Promise Pathway.
    • As a summer bridge program available to students prior to or subsequent to their junior and senior years of high school.
    • As a community college course during the first semester of enrollment at Wake Tech.

As part of the Project, Khan must develop a self-paced, competency-based modular math course with appropriate student diagnostics and student assessments based on the college readiness math competencies provided as part of the Project.

The Department of Public Instruction must use $500,000 in nonrecurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to contract with Khan for the purposes of the Project. These funds do not revert and will remain available until the end of the 2027-2028 fiscal year.

The Community Colleges System Office must use up to $1 million in nonrecurring funds for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to establish time-limited positions at Wake Tech to work in participating high schools and assist with the implementation of the courses offered by the Project. These funds do not revert and will remain available until the end of the 2029-2030 fiscal year.

The Office of Learning Research at the North Carolina Collaboratory must study and evaluate the Project and report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by March 15, 2028, and annually thereafter until March 15, 2030. The reports must include all of the following:

  • The total number of students engaging with this program.
  • The total amount of funds expended to implement, design, and operate the program.
  • Effects on student achievement and learning outcomes.

These sections became effective July 1, 2026.

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