Computer science education has seen a large national push to be included in the K-12 curriculum (Fluck, Webb, Cox, Angeli, Malyn-Smith, Voogt, & Zagami, 2016; Theresa Avancena & Nishihara, 2014; Veletsianos, Beth, Lin, & Russell, 2016; Yadav, Gretter, Hambrusch, & Sands, 2016). Students are leaving schools and entering an economy driven by technology and by a need to understand how to use and develop that technology (Armoni & Gal-Ezer, 2014; Bozick, Srinivasan, & Gottfried, 2017; Burke, 2016; Stuikys, Burbaite, Blazauskas, Barisas, & Binkis, 2017). As the State of South Dakota begins the process of reexamining their graduation requirements, the State Department of Education should consider the importance of computer science education in the curriculum as a standalone graduation requirement. Three aspects of computer science call for its inclusion in the curriculum. These three aspects include introducing computer science at elementary or middle school grade levels, ensuring the computer science courses contain skills that can be transferred to other subjects, and providing the necessary skills to meet the changing demands of today's society. Including computer science in the curriculum will force high schools in South Dakota to examine their curriculum to identify where changes can be made to make room for the necessary computer science course or courses. The inclusion of computer science in the South Dakota graduation requirements would also force the State Department of Education to create professional development opportunities, possibly with the help of higher education or local technology companies, for teachers to develop better pedagogical strategies. The policy brief that follows outlines the argument, expands on the important aspects, and describes the implications of the inclusion of computer science as a standalone requirement in the South Dakota high school graduation requirements.