Jen Clancey - Explore Big Sky - Apr. 24, 2025
In the 2024-25 school year, Morningstar Learning Center charged $1,820 per month for full time infant child care. Next year, the cost will rise to $2,095 monthly, reflecting efforts by the local child care provider to finally start matching tuition prices to the cost of keeping the facility running.
At an April 17 Big Sky Resort Area District meeting, MLC Executive Director Mariel Butan announced the second 15% tuition increase since last spring. The yearly increases will continue until about 70% of Morningstar’s operating expenses are covered by tuition, Butan said.
Thirty-eight of the 48 enrolled children in Morningstar received tuition help this year through Morningstar’s tuition assistance program, which is on track to distribute $375,000 total by the end of the school year. Butan expects to see more families eligible for tuition assistance next year, as tuition continues to rise.
In short, this next year, Morningstar will direct more fundraising dollars—in the form of grants, donations and events—to make up for widening gaps in what families can afford as tuition increases begin to reflect the actual cost of care.
Butan said that funders of Morningstar have been on board with the redirection of dollars toward families for about a year now. She described the child care issue in Big Sky as high stakes.
“You know, families have told us point blank … ‘if Morningstar’s tuition were to increase, we’d probably have to leave our jobs or leave Big Sky altogether because we can’t afford to live in Big Sky if both of us don’t work,’” Butan said.
The average income of Montana families who applied for financial assistance in the 2024 school year was $142,000. To achieve affordability standards set by the U.S. Department of Public Health and Human Services, families would pay about $10,000 a year for their kid’s childcare—7% of the family’s income. By that standard, Morningstar’s applicant cohort would pay $828.33 per month—a price that pales in comparison to the roughly $3,600 per month average it costs Morningstar to provide care for each child.
But Morningstar doesn’t charge the $3,600 price—in the 2025-26 school year, even with the upcoming $275 increase, MLC will ask just over $2,000 per month for full time infant care—the most expensive child care regimen at the facility..
“It’s a really intricate balance that we’re trying to strike here,” Butan said.
The gap between DPHHS targets and actual costs is a problem throughout Montana. According to the Montana Department of Labor, yearly expenses for child care in 2023 were equivalent to 28% of the state’s median household income, four times the DPPHS recommendation.
Morningstar hopes to raise $1.3 million in philanthropy and BSRAD allocations to cover costs for families in the upcoming school year as prices rise.
“It’s a very high bar, but it’s also a very high stakes conversation that we’re having about being able to retain families and employees and employers in our community,” Butan said. She pointed out opportunities in the Montana Legislature to supplement child care.
Tracking child-care-related bills in the current legislative session is Grace Decker, head of Montana Advocates for Children at the Montana Budget and Policy Center. She coordinates a network of child care organizations and stakeholders with a goal of strengthening the early child care and education system in the state.
Several bills, including House Bill 456, aim to subsidize child care providers and families across the state. Another opportunity, Senate Bill 321, would offer tax credits for families paying for care, child care workers and businesses providing child care assistance for their employees.
Decker is keeping a close eye on a third effort, which is pending in a House committee after passing the Senate. Senate Bill 565 would create a statewide fund to establish state support of early child care organizations and activities.
“ It would be … really the first time that something like that would be established in Montana,” Decker said. “It would be taking a big chunk of funding and investing it and then being able to use the interest off that to fund various early childhood improvements to the system over time.”
Butan noted that Morningstar has been able to make strides in providing more flexible schedules by tacking on Friday care, and being able to care for infants as young as three months as of this school year. She said an upcoming fundraiser, Give Big Gallatin Valley, on May 1-2 could help Morningstar raise the remaining $45,000 needed to cover the 2024-25 school year budget.
At the BSRAD meeting, Butan expressed Morningstar’s efforts. “We’re doing everything we can to live up to our promises of excellence and affordability for our community’s workforce,” she read in a written statement.
MBPC is a nonprofit organization focused on providing credible and timely research and analysis on budget, tax, and economic issues that impact low- and moderate-income Montana families.