West Dover, Vermont — Last week, there was widespread concern in the Deerfield Valley community following Mount Snow’s decision to reduce students and staff at a daycare. After this pushback, it seems like a resolution has been reached.
VTDigger reports that after telling parents they had only six weeks until their access at the Mount Snow daycare facility would be removed, it now won’t take effect until June 2026. Parents will now have until next summer to figure out where to take their kids.
After the initial announcement, the situation drew negative press, as the laid-off teachers and students raised concerns over what would happen following the reduction. The community got to work, starting a petition and raising awareness on local media outlets.
A key point of contention was the economic damage caused by these reductions. In a press release sent to us from Citizens of Deerfield Valley, they noted various negative impacts that could come from the decision. Included was the fact that the lack of childcare costs Vermont $195 million annually and that the state has lost around 60% of home-care providers from 2012 to 2023. A petition led by affected parent Amber Good garnered more than 250 signatures.
“When parents can’t find stable, local child care, they can’t work. That weakens our valley’s economy, threatens local businesses, and damages the prospects of families who want to stay here,” said a local parent and Mount Snow guest.
On Monday, Mount Snow announced that it was delaying the plan and would keep the daycare open for non-employees until June 2026.
“After thoughtful and engaging conversations with the community and coming to further understand their concerns, the team at Mount Snow has decided to extend our community childcare for the 16 impacted families until June 19, 2026, in hopes of better supporting their transition to alternative childcare solutions,” said Samara Sausville, the Vermont and New York Communications Manager for Vail Resorts.
The New Plan
Initially, the plan was to lay off some staff members. This has now been delayed, meaning they aren’t leaving their jobs. However, these workers may leave before June to pursue other positions. Three staffers have resigned, including the lead teacher. Jenn Wood, the lead teacher, resigned due to the daycare’s deficit, operational issues, and overstaffing. Vail Resorts is offering the affected employees the opportunity to apply for other positions at the ski resort.
Parents and former employees seem happier with the updated plan. While there is still some concern about finding new centers, plans are underway to create new facilities in the community. One former teacher is currently working on creating her own facility nearby. Another nearby facility is also considering expanding if it can hire more staff. Additionally, parents are considering creating a co-op child care model for the community.
“There is no alternative child care [available right now] … The only thing we can do is create more child care,” said Amber Good to VTDigger. “Eight months is a much more reasonable timeframe than just six weeks, but we still have a lot of work ahead. Parents are stepping up to tackle the childcare shortage that we expect in the valley next summer.”
When it comes to parenting, one of the most costly parts of the experience is daycare. The high cost of tuition is made even more difficult by the lack of availability. Now, add that to a remote area of Vermont with a lack of child care services, and you have a pretty serious situation.
It’s good to see Vail Resorts/Mount Snow noticed the mistake here and gave an extended period for parents to find more spots and for former employees to create their own daycares. In my opinion, a good step forward here would be for Mount Snow to help support these new and existing child care businesses.
Statement From Vail Resorts/Mount Snow
- There’s a lot of talk of community, and we think it’s important to remember that our employees are not separate from the community — they are the community. They live here, work here, raise families here, and care deeply about Dover and Mount Snow.
- This shift to an employee-led model allows us to focus our investment on supporting them, our employees and their families, ensuring they have access to reliable childcare so they can continue to deliver exceptional experiences for our guests.
- We’re a ski resort and that’s where our expertise lies. Though we explored several approaches to keep Mount Snow Childcare open to the broader community, we couldn’t identify a viable solution to reduce the substantial loss, which falls outside our core business of operating the ski area.
- This extension is for the affected families only, and once it’s come to pass, we will continue to operate childcare for Mount Snow team members at a loss, prioritizing this investment to support them and provide them a childcare option.
- This was an extremely tough decision, made locally by the Mount Snow team, and one we approached with a great deal of care and thought. We deeply value our community and the families who have relied on Mount Snow Childcare over the years.
- Running a daycare in Vermont comes with significant regulatory constraints. Due to state-mandated staffing ratios and classroom/group size limits, the economics are challenging — the more children we care for, the more financially strained the operation becomes. It’s counterintuitive, but the structure makes scaling difficult.
- It’s important to note that this will not impact the resort guest care offered on weekends and holiday weeks during the ski season. Those offerings remain unchanged. This change only impacts a small number of recurring care year-round families in the community.
- This change reflects a broader effort to support our employees and ensure the long-term sustainability of our operations.
Update 10/23: This post was updated to clarify that the decision was made by Mount Snow leadership, not by Vail Resorts, and to reflect the number of staff impacted by the planned layoffs. A statement from Mount Snow has also been added.
Image Credits: Mount Snow
