The school had regular tests and the Regents tests. You could take which ever you wanted. You just get a “worthless” Regents diploma if you take the Regents tests. Been there...done that.
The NYS US History Regents has been a politically correct trivial pursuit game for decades. No great loss.
I went to high school in NYS and at the time, if you did well on the regents exams you could get a decent scholarship to any of the NYS colleges and universities. So the regents test might not be worthless.