International baccalaureate non-mandatory prep courses cut by UGDSB

The Upper Grand District School Board has cut its international baccalaureate preparatory courses, but these courses are not mandatory for students to take after being accepted for the IB diploma program.

The IB diploma program is designed for students ages 16 to 19. It’s academically challenging and aims to prepare students for post-secondary education. It is internationally recognized by universities. At UGDSB the preparatory IB courses and IB diploma program is only offered at Guelph CVI. 

UGDSB is also exploring a possible expansion of the program to North Wellington and Dufferin County. 

The current cohort of Grade 9 and Grade 10 students accepted for the IB diploma program will continue with IB prep courses. For the 2026/2027 school year the IB diploma program will start for Grade 11 students accepted into the program and there will be no IB preparatory courses for Grade 9 and Grade 10 students. Previously students had to apply for IB diploma program in Grade 8.

The cost of the IB diploma program is $2,000. Back in June, staff recommended the program and admissions start in Grade 11 instead of Grade 9 because it gives students time to explore academic interests. It may also help prevent students dropping out of the program, since 50 per cent of students leave the program before receiving the IB diploma. Admissions for the IB diploma program would start in 2026, as previously reported by GuelphToday.

The fees for the IB program for Grade 11 and 12 have not changed, said Amy Withers, delegate at the UGDSB board meeting on Tuesday. She suggested the trustees make a motion to look at the fee structure so the IB prep program for Grade 9 and 10 can continue.

Withers thinks it's a mistake to cut the prep program in part because parents may need to have tutors for their children to help with the courses when they are in the IB diploma program.

A compromise she thinks could work is to keep the prep program for just Grade 10. If the prep program is cut entirely she thinks trustees should create a motion so in two years time after the cut, the board could see if the program is less geographically accessible, meaning mostly Guelph CVI students are making their way through the program.

Delegate Blakie Sahay said she was speaking on behalf of the IB prep advocacy committee and is representing over 500 parents, caregivers and students in the community.

Cutting the prep program is concerning for the group, said Sahay. Adjusted for inflation, the cost of the diploma program would be $3,400, she said.

It costs about $600,000 to run the diploma program as it is. It’s not self-sustaining and requires almost $100,000 of funding from the board each year. It was supposed to be self-sustaining in 2016/2017, said in a UGDSB report from June.

If the prep program is cut then it may mean students have to leave their home school to go to another school in Grade 11, when the diploma program starts, which could disrupt the social connections they’ve built, said Sahay.

“While exercising fiscal responsibility is important, students’ academic success and mental well-being should never be sacrificed at the altar of budgetary concerns. The IB prep program is essential in preparing students for the challenges and rigour of the IB diploma program, nurturing their learning potential and personal development,” said Sahay.

UGDSB approved the policy and committee meeting report from Oct. 1 along with its recommendations to continue the IB diploma program at GCVI starting admissions in Grade 11 for September next year, explore the possibility of expanding the diploma program to North Wellington and Dufferin County, and for the special education advisory committee to be asked to explore enrichment and gifted programming options for secondary school students, along with programming that already exists.

The vote wasn’t recorded so there are no counted votes but the motion passed to accept the report and the recommendations in it.