Commitments and Contingencies (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
May 31, 2020	May 31, 2019
Operating Leased Assets [Line Items]
Estimated litigation liability	$ 1.5
Amount awarded to other party	2.4
Open standby letters of credit	$ 4.3	$ 5.3
Overhead [Member]
Operating Leased Assets [Line Items]
Estimated litigation liability		$ 8.1

The total amount of the contingent obligation under letters of credit outstanding as of the reporting date.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_LettersOfCreditOutstandingAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Aggregate carrying amount of the estimated litigation liability for known or estimated probable loss from litigation, which may include attorneys' fees and other litigation costs.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121557415&loc=d3e14326-108349

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.25)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationReserve
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount awarded to other party in judgment or settlement of litigation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationSettlementAmountAwardedToOtherParty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeasedAssetsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=schl_OverheadMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: