The Quest to Save Sage: Now What?
On a front page full of stories about public services struggling against a lack of funding, the Spec recently ran an article highlighting some troubling news: The HWDSB is on the cusp of making some changes to programming that has become a place of belonging for many of the children and families that NowWhat serves every day.
SAGE (JK–Grade 5) and Sage Quest (Grades 6–8) are long-standing alternative programs in the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board focused on critical thinking, social & environmental justice, and the arts – similar to The Grove in Toronto. For decades, they’ve been a lifeline for many 2SLGBTQ+ and neurodivergent families.
A $150,000 external report recommended closing both programs to save a cost of about $5,000 per year per program, while also raising concerns about “fairness” related to transportation & (optional) parent involvement. But, as is often the case, fairness is being confused with equity. There’s consistently a waiting list for both programs. If access is the issue, expansion – not closure – is the solution.
In late February 2026, families spoke to Trustees and submitted a community survey and report in response to the threat of closure. The board will review these findings alongside the external report, with a decision expected in May.
Meanwhile, under Bill 33, Premier Doug Ford can appoint a supervisor to override elected trustees. Seven boards are already under supervision, and Hamilton could be next. If that happens, the outlook for schools becomes even more uncertain.
The existing school model is under extreme stress. Programs like this, for minimal cost per student, can offer alternatives for children who simply don’t fit into the traditional mold, who can find great joy and success with a slightly different approach. The cost savings of using alternative models as prevention (rather than waiting for things to fall apart for these families, and hoping for a cure when kids hit high school) are immense. Consider the resources required by schools to manage the behaviour safety plans and disciplinary processes that eventuate when kids aren’t well supported. Consider the cost of stress leave for burnt-out teachers when their classrooms are loaded with children with higher support needs than they have the capacity to meet, year after year. And consider the cost to society, when the incredible potential of our diverse learners goes untapped, and we lose the gifts they have to bring to the world (and the taxes they’ll contribute as productive workers rather than system dependents, if you prefer a capitalist justification).
It makes dollars AND sense to invest early in a healthy, educated population – rather than pay the price down the road.
The Clinical Lead of Children’s Programming at Now What, Sarah Milmine, spoke as a Delegate on behalf of Students and Families at the Board meeting a few weeks ago. If you’d like more information or want to connect with the parent groups who are currently working to advocate and save these programs – reach out to info@nowwhatsupports.ca and ask about our school advocacy services.
Meanwhile, here’s the speech Sarah (with ever-present sidekick Bandit the sheepdog) presented to the Board:
Good evening Trustees,
My name is Sarah Milmine. I am the Clinical Lead of Children’s Programming at Now What? Support Services, a multidisciplinary children’s mental-health clinic here in Hamilton. Our clinic primarily serves neurodivergent children, adults, and their families from all over the GTA. It was founded by two mothers of children with autism who understood first-hand how challenging it was to navigate multiple systems while trying to support their children. Their vision was to create a therapeutic space that naturally built community while meeting the real needs of families.
Prior to this role, I spent over twenty years working with children and families across nonprofit and private sectors — building programs, contributing to legislation, collaborating with community leaders, and advocating for how systems engage with humans across Ontario. Tonight. I am advocating for the SAGE program.
I want to share my perspective courageously so you understand the context I bring to this discussion.
I am speaking to you not only as a clinician, a professional, a parent of a child in the SAGE program —but also a neurodivergent adult who was once a child who did not “fit” in the traditional school system.
At our clinic, we support a high number of HWDSB students and families. Through my professional work — and through my own child’s experience — I see clearly the number of neurodivergent, quirky, bright, creative, busy, sometimes awkward kids – who others may describe as “too much.” ….. SAGE has become their perfect landing place. Where they find a sense of belonging.
Every day, my colleagues and I sit with families whose children are:
- neurodivergent
- navigating learning disabilities
- experiencing anxiety and school avoidance
- LGBTQ+ identified
- waiting years for assessments and services
Parents are working incredibly hard to help their children have positive school experiences. Yet they repeatedly describe feeling judged, isolated, and misunderstood.
This is the reality in Ontario today.
Children are waiting:
- years for autism funding
- years for psychoeducational assessments
- months to years for mental-health services
This means many children remain undiagnosed and unsupported in classrooms for long periods of time – while teachers and educational assistants, who often know exactly what the child needs, are unfortunately stretched too thin to consistently provide it.
These invisible disabilities create strain not only for families, but for educators, classmates, and the entire system.
As we know the research has outlined – most mental-health challenges begin before adulthood, and we know the profiles of the students I’ve described today face even higher risk and barriers to care.
I can tell you – that programs like SAGE are early intervention embedded within education.
It is clear the School Board and Educators across HWDSB are committed and always working towards inclusion.
But there is a difference between inclusive intent and system capacity.
Even with UDL parameters in place we consistently meet with educators – who explain classrooms simply do not have the time, staffing, training, or resources to consistently provide:
- sensory-aware environments
- executive functioning supports
- flexible and experiential learning
- social-emotional scaffolding
SAGE is where these supports are implemented in real time.
It is not separate from inclusion.
It is a living example of what inclusion can look like when the right structures exist.
One of the most unique and protective factors that is built into the SAGE program is the level of family and community engagement..
Parents volunteer.
Parents connect.
Parents support one another.
Families who once felt alone suddenly have a village.
Many parents of neurodivergent children are neurodivergent themselves. Many grew up feeling judged or misunderstood in school.
SAGE creates space for adults to model acceptance, cooperation, and community in real time.
And when parents feel supported, children thrive.
In my work, we often support children who struggle to attend school at all.
But within SAGE, we hear something different:
They want to go to school.
They want to participate.
They feel safe, seen, and understood.
And – That matters.
Children are not only learning academic content — they are learning how to live in a diverse world. They are learning empathy, collaboration, environmental stewardship, and respect for different ways of thinking and being.
When children grow up in spaces where differences are understood and celebrated, something powerful happens.
Acceptance becomes contagious.
Children feel safer being themselves.
Parents feel safer being themselves.
And that sense of safety spreads outward into classrooms, families, and communities.
This is how inclusive school communities grow.
This is how we prepare students to become compassionate global citizens.
Closing this program will not eliminate the need.
It will:
- displace students
- create new financial and system costs
- force transitions to new schools within the board
- increase demand on already stretched supports
This is not simply an efficiency decision.
It is a ripple-effect decision.
SAGE is not perfect — no program is.
But it is a cost-effective, community-driven model that is actively meeting the needs of unique learners in Hamilton.
Families choose SAGE because their children can belong there.
Displacing these students will not eliminate their needs — it will redistribute them, increasing pressure and accommodation costs across already stretched schools and supports.
SAGE is not a problem to solve. It is a model to strengthen, study, and replicate.
I urge you to listen to the voices here today — young and old (er) — and use what you hear to make SAGE stronger, and Hamilton better.
