Specialist
Former senior director at Nobel Learning Communities Inc
Agenda
- Typical school structures and drivers across regions
- Operating dynamics of physical vs online enrolment
- Cost pressures impacting enrolment trends
- Spring Education Group growth outlook
Questions
1.
Could you give an overview of the for-profit market for preschool and K-12? How has this evolved throughout your time in the industry?
2.
How do you think the balance across the first three tiers within preschool has shifted, pre-coronavirus and during the pandemic? Have you noted higher incomes, more people able to afford a mid-level school, weaning off vouchers or perhaps a shift from mid-level to a top-tier school? That can apply for preschool and K-12.
3.
Could you discuss any fundamental structural advantages that private schools offer vs public schools when making decisions such as mask mandates? It seems that strong private school players in the K-12 market could take advantage of public institutions’ potential slowness and inability to be agile.
4.
When considering how Spring Education is structured between K-12 and early childhood, throughout the different tiers, how would you assess the strength of that mix? Could the company be more relevant in the tier 2 K-12 or should it focus more attention in early childhood, perhaps top tier or mid-level? What’s your assessment of the ideal tier mix as a for-profit player in this market?
5.
Where would you say Spring Education’s greatest opportunity strategically is for its talent pool and resource commitment? Where would be easiest to split the business and focus on?
6.
If Spring Education focused only on the K-12 segment, what would it be up against in vying for market share? Could you discuss the attributes needed to consistently take market share within this competitive landscape?
7.
What are your thoughts on Spring Education’s strategy of buying everything it can find and figuring it out later? Do you think it was too aggressive acquiring so many schools, and now when it has an opportunity to take advantage of other schools’ weaknesses and potentially acquire them, it might be too over-levered to take on more debt to finance those acquisitions?
8.
Could you expand on the leading players in the premium K-12 market? What would you say these players are doing to take market share from Spring Education?
9.
How did Spring Education choose its location? You mentioned searching for affluent suburban neighbourhoods, but every day a new neighbourhood is popping up, around the housing. How did Spring Education or any other major player decide which US state or county to operate in, given the different state regulations for education?
10.
We discussed facilities and continuing to invest in them to market your product as a more premium experience for students. Could you discuss how the public sector has responded to gains in the for-profit market, in K-12 or other segments? Would you say public schools have used their funding to reinvest and make themselves more competitive to bring students back into the district?
11.
Could you expand on Spring Education’s acquisition strategy? You mentioned a lack of rebranding and a potential identity crisis. What does the company do to improve the schools it buys? Is it just buying schools for more exposure and revenues, or actually implementing best practice throughout the facilities?
12.
Is the demand in for-profit early childhood and K-12 sustainable? What’s your demand outlook for the next 1-2 years?
