Stride (LRN) Risk Factors

Our online curriculum is made available to students through websites, computers and other display devices connected to the Internet. The website platforms and online curriculum include a combination of software applications that include graphics, pictures, videos, animations, sounds and interactive content that may present challenges to individuals with disabilities. A number of states and federal authorities have considered or are considering how web-based information should be made accessible to persons with such disabilities. To the extent they enact or interpret laws and regulations to require greater accessibility than we currently provide, we may have to modify our offerings to satisfy those requirements. Because there is no federal rule setting a uniform technical standard for determining web accessibility under Section 508 and Title II of the ADA, online service providers have no uniform  standard of compliance. Some states have adopted the standards promulgated under Section 508 while others require WCAG Level A and/or Level AA or their own unique standards. In addition, Section 504 is designed to ensure that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to access each school's website and online learning environment. To the extent that we enter into federal government contracts, different standards of compliance could be imposed on us under Section 508, or by states who apply these federal standards under Section 508 or other standards to education providers, which standards may be changed from time to time.  Beyond the significant product development costs associated with these evolving regulations, a failure to meet such requirements could also result in loss or termination of material contracts, inability to secure new contracts, or in potential legal liability.

In many cases, virtual and blended public schools operate under a charter that is granted by a state or local authorizer to the charter holder, such as a community group or an established not-for-profit corporation, which typically is required by state law to qualify for student funding. In fiscal year 2024, a majority of our revenue was derived from our comprehensive school-as-a-service offerings in both the General Education and Career Learning markets, the majority of which were virtual and blended public schools operating under a charter. The service and products agreements for these schools are with the charter holder or the charter board. Non-profit public charter schools qualifying for exemption from federal taxation under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) as charitable organizations must also operate on an arms-length basis in accordance with Internal Revenue Service rules and policies to maintain that status and their funding eligibility. In addition, many state public charter school statutes require periodic reauthorization. If a virtual or blended public school we support fails to maintain its tax-exempt status and funding eligibility, fails to renew its charter, or if its charter is revoked for non-performance or other reasons that may be due to actions of the independent charter board completely outside of our control, our contract with that school would be terminated. For example, in fiscal year 2018, our contract with the Insight School of Ohio was terminated because the Buckeye Community Hope Foundation terminated the charter of Insight School of Ohio.

We recognize revenues ratably from certain of our fees charged to school-as-a-service offerings over the course of our fiscal year. To determine the pro rata amount of revenues to recognize in a fiscal quarter, we estimate the total expected funds each school will receive in a particular school year. Additionally, we take responsibility for any operating deficits incurred at most of the school-as-a-service offerings we serve. Because this may impair our ability to collect the full amount invoiced in a period and therefore collection cannot reasonably be assured, we reduce revenues by the estimated pro rata amount of the school's net operating loss. We review our estimates of total funds and operating expenses periodically, and we revise as necessary, by adjusting our year-to-date earned revenues to be proportional to the expected revenues to be earned during the fiscal year. Actual school funding received and school operating expenses incurred may vary from our estimates or revisions and could adversely impact our revenues, results of operations and cash flows.

The public schools we contract with are financed with government funding from federal, state and local taxpayers. Our business is primarily dependent upon those funds with a majority of our revenue coming from our comprehensive school-as-a-service offerings in both the General Education and Career Learning markets. Budget appropriations for education at all levels of government are determined through a legislative process that may be affected by negative views of for-profit education companies, recessionary conditions in the economy at large, or significant declines in public school funding. The results of federal and state elections can also result in shifts in education policy and the amount of funding available for various education programs. The political process and potential variability in general economic conditions, including due to possible pandemics, changing interest rates, rising inflation and geo-political instability, create a number of risks that could have an adverse effect on our business including the following:?- Legislative proposals can and have resulted in budget or program cuts for public education, including the virtual and blended public schools and school districts we serve, and therefore have reduced and could potentially limit or eliminate the products and services those schools purchase from us, causing our revenues to decline. From time to time, proposals are introduced in state legislatures that single out virtual and blended public schools for disparate treatment. - Economic conditions, including current and future business disruptions and debt and equity market volatility caused by changing interest rates, rising inflation, the government closures of various banks and liquidity concerns at other financial institutions, geo-political instability, pandemics and the potential for local and/or global economic recession, could reduce state education funding for all public schools or cause a delay in the payment of government funding to schools and school districts or a delay in payments to us for our products or services, the effects of which could be disproportionate for the schools we serve. Our annual revenue growth is impacted by changes in federal, state and district per pupil funding levels. In addition, as we enter into service and product agreements with multiple schools in a single state, the aggregate impact of funding reductions applicable to those schools could be material. For example, we have agreements with 13 schools in California, and while each school is independent with its own governing authority and no single school in California accounts for more than 10% of our revenue, regulatory actions that affect the level or timing of payments for all similarly situated schools in that state could adversely affect our financial condition. The specific level of federal, state and local funding for the coming years is not yet known for specific states and, when taken as a whole, it is reasonable to believe that a number of the public schools we serve could experience lower per pupil enrollment funding, while others may increase funding, as economic conditions or political conditions change. - As a public company, we are required to file periodic financial and other disclosure reports with the SEC. This information may be referenced in the legislative process, including budgetary considerations, related to the funding of alternative public school options, including virtual public schools and blended schools. The disclosure of this information by a for-profit education company, regardless of parent satisfaction and student performance, may nonetheless be used by opponents of virtual and blended public schools to propose funding reductions or restrictions. - From time to time, government funding to schools and school districts is not provided when due, which sometimes causes the affected schools to delay payments to us for our products and services. These payment delays have occurred in the past and can deprive us of significant working capital until the matter is resolved,which could hinder our ability to implement our growth strategies and conduct our business. For example, in fiscal year 2016, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was unable to approve a budget, including funding for public school education, and thus the Agora Cyber Charter School received no funds and could not make timely contractual payments to the Company for our products and services, even though we continued to incur the costs to keep the school operating.

As we have grown to serve more schools, students and families in an increasing number of states and countries, we have invested in infrastructure systems and technology to keep pace such as new communication systems, enterprise hardware and software systems. In the absence of compatible business processes, adequate employee training, integration with other dependent systems, and sufficient staffing, this expanded capacity alone may not result in improved performance or outcomes.

Our success depends in large part on continued employment of senior management and key personnel who can effectively operate our business, which is necessary in the highly regulated public education sector involving a publicly traded for-profit company. This complexity requires us to attract and retain experienced executive management and employees with specialized skills and knowledge across many disciplines. If any of these employees leave us and we fail to effectively manage a transition to new personnel, or if we fail to attract and retain qualified and experienced professionals on acceptable terms, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Our success also depends on our having highly trained financial, technical, recruiting, sales and marketing personnel. We will need to continue to hire additional personnel as our business grows. A shortage in the number of people with these skills or our failure to attract them to our Company could impede our ability to increase revenues from our existing products and services, ensure full compliance with federal and state regulations, launch new product offerings, and would have an adverse effect on our business and financial results. We are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act and other state and federal employment laws. These laws govern such matters as minimum wage, overtime, leave, and other working conditions that can increase our labor costs or subject us to liabilities to our employees. In addition, many state and local jurisdictions are adopting their own laws, such as paid sick leave, to address conditions of employment not covered by federal law and/or to provide additional rights and benefits to employees. These developments and disparate laws could increase our costs of doing business, lead to litigation, or have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We currently outsource some of our hosting services to third parties. We do not control the operation of any third-party facilities. These facilities are vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, fires, power loss, telecommunications failures and similar events. They are also subject to break-ins, computer viruses, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism and other misconduct. The occurrence of any of these disasters or other unanticipated problems could result in lengthy interruptions in our service. Furthermore, the availability of our proprietary and third-party LMSs could be interrupted by a number of additional factors, including our customers' inability to access the Internet, the failure of our network or software systems due to human or other error, security breaches or the ability of the infrastructure to handle spikes in customer usage. Interruptions in our service may reduce our revenue, cause us to issue credits or pay penalties, cause customers to terminate their subscriptions and adversely affect our renewal rates and our ability to attract new customers. Our business will also be harmed if our customers and potential customers believe our service is unreliable.

While historically we grew by opening new virtual public schools in new states, in recent years the pace of state expansion has declined while opening more schools in existing states has increased. In fiscal year 2024, we served 91 virtual public schools and blended schools in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Without adding additional states, our school-as-a-service revenues may become increasingly dependent on serving more virtual schools in existing states. We may also not be able to fill available enrollment slots as forecasted. If the market demand for virtual and blended public schools does not increase or declines, if the remaining states are hesitant to authorize virtual or blended public schools, if enrollment caps are not removed or raised, or if the funding of such schools is inadequate, our opportunities for growth and our ability to sustain our revenues, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.

As parents evaluate school choices for their children, we are segmenting our marketing efforts to better attract students who are most likely to benefit from and succeed in virtual education programs and who are likely to remain enrolled with a virtual school over several years. Our research leads us to believe that students with parents who are active and regularly engaged in their education are more likely to be successful in a virtual school. In some cases, the governing authorities of these schools may request different enrollment policies or criteria. Our marketing efforts, therefore, may not be wholly successful, and could lead to an overall decline in enrollment for our school-as-a-service offering, thus adversely affecting our revenue, results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, for our Galvanize, Tech Elevator and MedCerts offerings to adult learners, we are focusing our marketing and enrollment efforts to identify and attract adult learners in the software engineering, healthcare and medical fields, as well as providing staffing and talent development services to employers and government agencies. However, our marketing efforts may not be successful. As a result, our overall enrollment in these adult learning programs may decline, and our revenue, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.