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Basis of Presentation (Policies)
9 Months Ended
Feb. 29, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Principles of consolidation
Principles of consolidation
 
The accompanying condensed consolidated interim financial statements (referred to as the “Financial Statements” herein) include the accounts of Scholastic Corporation (the “Corporation”) and all wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries (collectively, “Scholastic” or the “Company”). Intercompany transactions are eliminated in consolidation.
 
The Company’s fiscal year is not a calendar year. Accordingly, references in this document to fiscal 2020 relate to the twelve-month period ending May 31, 2020.
Interim Financial Statements
Interim Financial Statements

The accompanying Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial information, and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2019. The Financial Statements presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are unaudited; however, in the opinion of management, the Financial Statements reflect all adjustments, consisting solely of normal, recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair presentation of the Financial Statements for the periods presented. 

Seasonality
Seasonality
 
The Company’s Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution school-based book club and book fair channels and most of its Education businesses operate on a school-year basis; therefore, the Company’s business is highly seasonal. As a result, the Company’s revenues in the first and third quarters of the fiscal year generally are lower than its revenues in the other two fiscal quarters. Typically, school-based channels and magazine revenues are minimal in the first quarter of the fiscal year as schools are not in session. Trade sales can vary throughout the year due to varying release dates of published titles. The Company generally experiences a loss from operations in the first and third quarters of each fiscal year.
Use of estimates
Use of estimates
 
The preparation of these Financial Statements involves the use of estimates and assumptions by management, which affects the amounts reported in the Financial Statements and accompanying notes. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience, current business factors, and various other assumptions believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, all of which are necessary, in order to form a basis for determining the carrying values of certain assets and liabilities. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions. On an on-going basis, the Company evaluates the adequacy of its reserves and the estimates used in these calculations, including, but not limited to:
Accounts receivable allowance for doubtful accounts
Pension and postretirement benefit plans
Uncertain tax positions
The timing and amount of future income taxes and related deductions
Inventory reserves
Cost of goods sold from book fair operations during interim periods based on estimated gross profit rates
Sales tax contingencies
Royalty advance reserves and royalty expense accruals
Impairment testing for goodwill, intangible and other long-lived assets and investments
Assets and liabilities acquired in business combinations
Variable consideration related to anticipated returns
Allocation of transaction price to performance obligations
New Accounting Pronouncements
New Accounting Pronouncements
In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the "FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740) - Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. The updates in this guidance remove the following exceptions: 1. Exception to the incremental approach for intraperiod tax allocation when there is a loss from continuing operations and income or a gain from other items (for example, discontinued operations or other comprehensive income); 2. Exception to the requirement to recognize a deferred tax liability for equity method investments when a foreign subsidiary becomes an equity method investment; 3. Exception to the ability not to recognize a deferred tax liability for a foreign subsidiary when a foreign equity method investment becomes a subsidiary; 4. Exception to the general methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period when a year-to-date loss exceeds the anticipated loss for the year.

The guidance also simplifies the accounting for income taxes by: 1. Requiring an entity recognize a franchise tax (or similar tax) that is partially based on income as an income-based tax and account for any incremental amount incurred as a non-income-based tax; 2. Requiring an entity evaluate when a step up in the tax basis of goodwill should be considered part of the business combination in which the book goodwill was originally recognized and when it should be considered a separate transaction; 3. Specifying an entity is not required to allocate the consolidated amount of current and deferred tax expense to a legal entity that is not subject to tax in its separate financial statements; 4. Requiring an entity reflect the effect of an enacted change in tax laws or rates in the annual effective tax rate computation in the interim period that includes the enactment date. The guidance further provides a policy election to not allocate consolidated income taxes when a member of a consolidated tax return is not subject to income tax and provides guidance to evaluate whether a step-up in tax basis of goodwill relates to a business combination or a separate transaction.

The ASU will be effective for the Company in the first quarter of fiscal 2022. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period for which financial statements have not yet been issued. An entity that elects to early adopt in an interim period should reflect any adjustments as of the beginning of the annual period that includes that interim period and an entity that elects early adoption must adopt all the amendments in the same period. The Company is evaluating the impact of this ASU on its consolidated Financial Statements.

Current Fiscal Year Adoptions

Topic 842, Leases
Refer to Note 11, Leases, for a discussion of the Company's lease accounting following the adoption of ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) in the first quarter of fiscal 2020.

ASU No. 2018-15
In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-15, Intangibles- Goodwill and Other-Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement that is a Service Contract. The Company adopted ASU No. 2018-15 as of the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2020 using the prospective approach. In the third fiscal quarter, the Company capitalized approximately $9.5 of cloud computing costs which have not yet been placed into service. This amount is included within Other assets and deferred charges within the Company's Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and within the operating activities section of the Company's Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows.



ASU No. 2018-02
In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-02, Income Statement-Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220)-Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. The Company adopted ASU No. 2018-02 as of the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2020 which resulted in no impact to the Company's financial statements.