KCI Elective Cuts: The Impacts on KCI Students
Written by: Maya Paddon
When entering the senior grades, KCI students are given the opportunity to select multiple elective courses to help narrow their focus as they approach life beyond the high school setting.
This past February during course selection week, although students were able to sign up for any courses available on their myBlueprint accounts, a handful of senior elective classes are not scheduled to be running next school year as a result of fewer students choosing to take them during the course selection process.
The Edge spoke with KCI staff, administration, and students directly impacted by these upcoming course cuts to determine the future of these electives.
Classes Not Returning
Senior electives not returning in the 2026-2027 school year fall under the arts, social sciences, and humanities categories. While classes such as grade twelve Canadian and International Law, grade twelve Equity and Social Justice, and grade twelve World History are set to run with full class sizes next school year, the grade eleven Spanish Class, grade twelve Writer’s Craft, and grade twelve World Issues are not returning. Other courses are being cut down to only one section rather than multiple.
Ms. Martin, KCI’s principal, explained that determining which elective courses are running comes from an overall class size “average.” She explained that University grade twelve classes must meet an average of 32 students. Class sizes can be slightly over or under that average number, but generally, if a course has far fewer students signed up for it, it will be cancelled for the next school year.
Both KCI staff and students have expressed that they were caught off guard when informed that certain senior electives were being cut. For instance, Mr. Schmuck, a KCI teacher and Department Head of English, noted, “It’s the first time since I’ve been here, which is ten or fifteen years, that [Writer’s Craft] hasn’t run…I was a little disappointed in this one because I felt like we would have had the numbers to run it next year. They cancelled it before it had the chance.”
Additionally, Mr. Fogo, KCI’s Department Head of Geography, commented on the World Issues course being cancelled for the second year in a row: “World Issues had always run up until this year for well over twenty years,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vicky Hynes, a grade twelve student who has “immensely benefited from” her Spanish classes and the Writer’s Craft class, communicated her frustration with some of her favourite courses being removed from next school year’s schedule: “[S]tudents deserve choice when it comes to the courses they take in high school and it is doing a disservice to current and future students by not running these classes,” she stated.
A Growing Focus on STEM
While Mr. Schmuck and Mr. Fogo concur that these courses may not be running for a variety of reasons, they have both noticed a trend in students taking more STEM-related courses as opposed to arts and humanities courses over the past few years. Mr. Schmuck noted, “I do know that over my career, I would definitely say that there has been more of a push towards STEM subjects…I don’t know where that push is coming from, if it’s societal or if it’s within the building.”
Mr. Fogo communicated a similar observation: “I know as a parent that there’s always the ‘STEM or STEAM’ focus, which in my opinion has become a little obsessive. And then the other side of that is that it’s kind of killing the arts, it’s limiting inquiry in a way.” Mr. Fogo continued, “Math, numeracy, the sciences - it’s all super important. But, there should maybe be a balance rather than those being all-consuming, and maybe that’s getting reflected in the courses that aren’t getting offered.”
While she appreciates the value of STEM courses and their benefits throughout society, Vicky argued that emphasizing the importance of the maths and sciences should not simultaneously “[penalize] students who prioritize courses such as languages, humanities, and social sciences over STEM.”
Student Voices
Although she is a graduating student, Vicky voiced her displeasure with the fewer electives being offered to the next generation of students. She praised the “positive and encouraging” learning environments she has been a part of through taking various humanities courses, noting that they are beneficial for all students regardless of their future aspirations: “[T]hey are crucial courses in which students learn about such important topics such as history, social issues, and different cultures which are courses that are so important in today's society to allow students to gain a broader understanding of our world as well as developing critical thinking skills, empathy, and creativity, all necessary for the betterment of society.”
Then, when speaking about her Spanish classes, specifically, Vicky said, “The class is based around daily peer and teacher interaction which is so crucial in learning and gaining confidence in a new language, as well as creating the most positive and supportive community and learning environment.” She added, “Throughout high school, like many others, I was very unsure of what I wanted to pursue post secondary, but in Spanish class I discovered such a love for the language [and] next year I am going to the University of Laurier to study in their languages program…It is only because I had the opportunity to take electives like Spanish class that I was able to discover my passion, and all students deserve that opportunity.”
Caleb Conley, a grade ten student who took Spanish for the first time this year, also expressed his frustration with the upcoming grade eleven Spanish class cut. Caleb explained that he is hoping to pursue Spanish throughout high school, but now may not be able to because grade twelve Spanish requires the grade eleven prerequisite. Although he signed up to take grade eleven Spanish during course selection, he will “still have to contact [his] guidance counsellor” to find a replacement course. Despite this course cut, Caleb praised the positive learning environment cultivated by Mme. Lopez, his Spanish teacher, and his classmates: “I love learning new languages, and I have fun every day in Spanish. It’s just an awesome course and I learn new stuff every day. I can see my improvement.”
Offering Diverse Courses
Ms. Martin reassured students by saying that they can reach out to their guidance counsellors with questions about their course selections: “We always want to be responsive to our students and what they want to take,” she said.
Ms. Martin added that course selections each year reflect trends regarding what students are interested in pursuing further. She explained that the various classes not being offered next year “may have run their course” since fewer students signed up for them during the selection period.
Although some humanities courses are not running next school year, students like Vicky and Caleb have found that offering a variety of courses, no matter the subject area, is beneficial to the student body. Vicky commented, “I understand that many of these electives have a smaller number of students, but even though a course has a smaller class size, that does not mean it is any less valuable, and it is even a strength as you get to know your peers so well and are able to interact better with the teacher which contributes to such positive class environments.” She continued, “[T]he beauty of high school is that a variety of courses are offered to fit different people's interests, however not running these classes would be discounting those with interests and passion in those areas.”
Mr. Schmuck and Mr. Fogo agree that all humanities courses remain valuable regardless of the exact number of students who sign up for them. Mr. Schmuck said that classes like these push for creative thinking in students: “I think when we’re talking about things like Writer’s Craft, I think that what these courses foster in people is creativity. I’m not a math and science person, but I think that’s important in all facets of life, including the maths and sciences…I think that’s what the arts really push, thinking outside the box, and pushing boundaries.”
Mr. Fogo communicated similar ideas, specifically noting how “important” humanities courses are given the current global geopolitical situation: “That ‘STEM or STEAM’ stuff is great, I think it’s a wonderful foundation to have. But, I don’t think it’s worth going all in at the expense of losing all of our connection to the arts, humanities, and social science courses because those might be what give us the clear understanding and tools to solve the problems of the future,” he concluded.
*Correction: A previous version of this story stated that all grade 12 courses are subject to the average of 32 students. It is actually only “University” level courses that are subject to this average.