GUELPH – People pleaded with trustees during an Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) meeting on Oct. 29, attempting to convince them to continue offering an International Baccalaureate (IB) prep program for Grade 9 and 10 students.
But trustees voted unanimously, without discussion during the meeting, to push IB enrolment to Grade 11.
IB is an internationally-recognized program that “aims to develop well-rounded individuals by fostering academic excellence, personal growth, and international mindedness,” according to UGDSB officials.
Grade 12 students graduate from IB with two diplomas: an Ontario Secondary School Diploma and a globally recognized IB diploma.
It’s offered at more than 5,000 schools, 18 of those in Ontario English-speaking school boards, including the UGDSB and Wellington Catholic District School Board.
IB prep program
Until now, UGDSB has offered an IB preparation program for Grade 9 and 10 students and an IB diploma program for Grade 11 and 12 students, both at Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI).
Grade 11 IB student Claire Hartman spoke to trustees on Oct. 29 on behalf of IB students who want to keep the prep program.
Hartman said IB prep is important because it prepares students “for the rigour of the real IB program.
“It gets us to learn overall IB skills early, and gets us in the IB mindset,” she said.
Blakie Sahay, parent to an IB student, delegated to council with three other IB parents on behalf of a committee of “over 512 parents, caregivers and students.”
Many of these committee members won’t be personally affected by the change, Sahay noted, as they are already enrolled or have already graduated from IB.
But they “feel so strongly about how this benefitted their students that they are actively involved with this,” Sahay added.
She said “The IB prep program is essential in preparing students for the challenges and rigour of the IB diploma program, ensuring their learning potential and personal development.”
“I urge you to consider the profound implications of starting admissions to IB in Grade 11,” she added. “The decision you make tonight will shape the students and the vibrant, supportive community we are striving to build together.”
Amy Withers, another IB student’s parent, said without IB prep she worries that only students whose parents can afford extra tutoring will succeed.
Withers suggested trustees consider compromising by cutting Grade 9 IB prep but continuing with the program in Grade 10.
‘Enriched learning’
But starting the prep program in Grade 9 offers an opportunity to make friends with like-minded peers, Hartman said, and “it’s more motivating to work when others are striving for similar things to you.”
It also offers “enriched learning” for students who need it, she added.
Withers said her daughter is gifted, autistic and has special needs, “and for her the IB prep program is actually an inclusive special education class.
“If she wasn’t in this class, she’d be in the resource room,” she said. “That’s not inclusive education.”
Instead, Withers’ daughter is “in her classroom with her peers, and that’s because the IB program provides a really fast-paced, challenging environment and that’s really important for some students.”
The board’s Special Education Advisory Committee is set to explore other enrichment programming for gifted secondary school students.
Hartman, who is a DECA executive and involved with school town halls, said IB students are “responsible for leading many clubs at activities such as the annual Terry Fox Run … and also holding the holiday gift box drive.”
Switching schools
Students from across the UGDSB travel to GCVI to participate in the IB program.
Parents and students are concerned that without IB prep, students outside of GCVI’s regular catchment area will have to spend Grade 9 and 10 at different high schools, then transfer to GCVI for IB in Grade 11.
Sahay, an occupational therapist specializing in mental health, said cutting the prep program “means forcing students to potentially leave their established home school communities after Grade 10, disrupting the social connections they’ve built.
“These friendships and connections are essential for their mental health and their overall development,” she said.
“High school is not just about academics – it’s a time for personal growth and building a support system.”
“It’s not as easy to make friends halfway through high school if you are moving to a new school,” Hartman added, “as lots of friend groups have already been formed.”
Hartman feels confident this will lead to lots of students who would otherwise have participated in the IB program opting to stay at the same school instead.
Switching schools would be particularly disruptive to student athletes like Hartman, who plays basketball and ultimate frisbee.
The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations prohibits students from participating on school sports teams within the first year of transferring schools.
GCVI’s senior girls basketball team includes current IB students Meher Sandhu, Gwen Rankin, Jenna Genidy, Claire Hartman and Ally Ostrander. Some of the other students were in IB prep. Submitted photo
Hartman listed many benefits of participating in school sports, including making friends and boosting mental and physical health.
School sports teams help to “create well-rounded individuals, which is what IB strives to have,” she said.
“I would not have switched schools for IB … because I would want to be with my friends and I would want to be able to play basketball and frisbee,” she told trustees.
“The IB students at GCVI, and future IB students are asking you to please keep the IB prep program for enriched learning for those who need it, for continued leadership around the school, for well-rounded student athletes and for prepared and balanced students,” Hartman said.
Students, parents upset
She told the Advertiser she was frustrated by the trustees’ decision to cut IB prep.
“I feel that they did not consider the students’ wants and needs, which should be most important to them,” she said.
“The IB students at GCVI are really upset with the decision to remove the IB prep program, and do not feel that the choice was made with the best interests of the students in mind.”
Sahay told the Advertiser she was not surprised by the board’s decision, but she has spoken with other parents who are “very upset.”
For Sahay, the trustees’ vote to cut IB prep was at its heart a vote to keep the IB diploma program, which may have been cut completely if changes weren’t made.
Financial sustainability
Though trustees did not discuss their decision during the Oct. 29 meeting, the IB program was discussed at length during a board meeting on June 25.
Robin Ross said then that financial sustainability is an important part of the decision, noting UGDSB’s IB program was supposed to become financially self-sustaining, but instead has lost money for 10 years.
Withers noted IB fees have not increased with inflation.
“I suggest, if money is a problem, that one of you make a motion to reevaluate the current fee structure for Grade 11 and 12 in order to maintain enough funding to keep the prep program,” she said to trustees.
The current fee for Grade 11 and 12 IB students is $2,000, Sahay noted, but with inflation, it should be $3,400.
Sahay said the IB prep program incurs little to none of the IB program’s annual shortfall of approximately $600,000.
“This amount is tied directly to the IB diploma program and not the prep program,” she said.
“While exercising fiscal responsibility is important, students’ academic success and mental well-being should never be sacrificed at the alter of budgeting concerns.”
‘Equity’
Trustees also expressed concerns about a lack of equity with the IB program, especially as it is only offered in Guelph and transportation is not provided for out-of-town students.
From Withers’ perspective, cutting IB prep decreases equity “in terms of geographical accessibility [and] also in terms of the diversity of the students that can come,” as out-of-area students will be less likely to attend if it means switching schools between Grades 10 and 11.
Officials are considering expanding the IB diploma program to high schools in Wellington County and Dufferin.
Sahay said that’s what the advocacy committee is most interested in: removing barriers for students in Wellington County and Dufferin to participate in IB.
Switching boards
Sahay expressed concerns that cutting IB prep will impact overall enrolment at the UGDSB, as students may move to a different board, such as the Wellington Catholic District School Board.
That’s something she said the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has experienced since cutting its IB prep program several years ago.
“Our committee has already heard from students and caregivers that intend to [transfer to the Catholic board] should the IB prep program be removed here,” Sahay said.
Before the UGDSB offered IB, Sahay said a bus full of Guelph students went to Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute in Kitchener to attend the IB program there.
The motion approved during the meeting stated admissions would start in Grade 11 for Sept. 2026, and parents have since been informed that the IB prep program will not be offered in Grade 9 as of September 2025.
The current Grade 8 students expecting to start IB prep in September will need to wait until September of 2027 to enrol in the IB diploma program in Grade 11.
Grade 9 and 10 students currently enrolled in IB classes will be able to continue.
