Dive Brief:

• New York-based Scholastic tapped Haji Glover  — who previously worked for the children’s publishing and media company in the role of senior vice president of corporate finance from January 2020 to August 2022  — to replace outgoing CFO Ken Cleary, effective Jan. 22, the company said Monday.  

• Glover, 50, has about 27 years of finance and analytical experience in a range of industries and is returning to Scholastic after working for over a year as director of finance at Amazon in New York City, where he led the finance group supporting the tech giant’s People Experience and Technology division, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. 

• The news comes about five months after Scholastic announced Cleary, who joined the New York-based company in 2008 and has served as CFO for the last six years, would be stepping away from the finance role to become the firm’s next President of International once his replacement was found.

Dive Insight:

Scholastic, one of the world’s largest distributors of children’s books whose titles, as well as its iconic school book fairs have shaped generations of readers, has found its businesses at the center of volatile cultural debates and rising public school book bans. J.K. Rowling, author of Scholastic’s blockbuster “Harry Potter” series, herself became a lightning rod for controversy as her tweets about transgender people have sparked outrage, the Associated Press reported.

The company last year reversed its decision to make titles related to race and LGBTQ+ issues optional after its plan to do so drew scrutiny, according to Industry Dive’s sister publication K-12 Dive. In December, the company announced that its spring 2024 book fairs would integrate the books previously relegated to its now-discontinued elementary school collection of titles related to diversity. 

“Compared to a year ago, the environment in U.S. schools is currently more complex and challenging, reflecting growing polarization in our society and politicization of schools and school boards, higher rates of absenteeism, and chronic teacher shortages,” Scholastic CEO Peter Warwick said on a company earnings call last month, noting too a “modest short-term slowdown” in consumer spending growth in the fall related to its school-based business.

During the fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 30, the company reported net income ticked up to $76.9 million from $75.4 million in the year earlier period even as revenues fell 4% to $562.6 million from $587.9 million. The company is still benefiting from lower costs of paper, manufacturing, freight and shipping compared to a year ago, Warwick said.  

The company also lowered its guidance for fiscal 2024 to adjusted EBITDA of $165 million to $175 million compared to a range of between $190 million and $200 million previously.

Haji will receive an annual base salary of about $625,000 and be eligible to participate in the company’s short-term incentive plan with a target bonus of 50% of his salary, and for the fiscal year 2024 ending May 31 his bonus will be pro-rated, with a stipulated minimum of $200,000, according to the SEC filing. The board also approved an equity incentive grant with a value of $200,000 to be paid in restricted stock units and stock options. Haji will also be eligible for long-term equity incentives with a target grant value of $500,000 beginning in September.    

Haji’s predecessor Cleary’s compensation totaled $1.53 million including a salary of $615,000 in the fiscal year ending May 31, compared to total compensation of $1.4 million in the previous fiscal year, according to the company’s latest proxy filing.