Returning for a fifth year of high school may no longer be an option for Ontario students if the provincial government adopts a key recommendation in the Drummond Report.
According to the report, 14 per cent of Ontario high school students return for a fifth year – or “victory lap” – placing financial pressure on the province. Cutting the service could save Ontario $70 million, according to the report.
The report was the work of former TD Bank economist Don Drummond, and includes suggestions to reduce Ontario’s spending to eliminate the current deficit.
The report suggests capping high school credits at 32, two more than required needed to graduate. It also states the province should amend the Education Act, to allow school boards to “charge a modest fee, set by the province, for each additional credit above the 32 successfully completed credit threshold.”
Not everyone is in favour of the proposal.
Catherine Fife, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, says there is no doubt in her mind about providing flexibility around a fifth year.
“That fifth year provides students not only the time to mature, but also to explore the best options for them,” she says.
However, Bruce Summers, vice-principal of Lisgar Collegiate Institute, doesn’t think the capping of 32 credits is a deal breaker for the province.
“Most kids who do the victory lap don’t have more than 30 credits,” he says. “It’s that they don’t have 30 credits after four years.”
But nine years after Grade 13 was phased out, many students still go back for a fith year. At the time Grade 13 was eliminated, it sparked debate about students’ readiness to leave high school after only four years.
Natasha Wills, a Grade 12 student at Glebe Collegiate Institute, says she hasn’t considered a victory lap herself, but knows a lot of students who have.
“You’re basically just going back to high school, so I think you should just have the choice,” she said.
Wills says she thinks returning for a victory lap allows students to take courses they need before pursuing post-secondary education.
“If there’s courses you missed and stuff, you get another chance to either get your mark higher or get the credits you didn’t get without paying,” she says.