Chattanooga Christian School

Chattanooga Christian School is burning the cushion faster than the 3-month buffer suggests. Expenses are outpacing revenue 16.8% vs 0.3% per year over three years, and the latest operating margin is -10.7% on a 87% tuition-dependent revenue mix. Covering the deficit at today's rate, reserves would last roughly 2.6 more years — the full budget, by contrast, is covered for about 3 months if every revenue line stopped. The board conversation here is the recovery plan for the operating model and the timeline to break-even. NACUBO Composite Financial Index: -1.1 / 10, distressed.

Chattanooga Christian School holds only 3 months of operating expense in reserve — a thin runway that warrants understanding before walking into a campus visit.

Chattanooga Christian School reported $29.0M in revenue against $32.1M in expenses in fiscal year 2023, the most recent filing on record. Net assets stood at $8.8M — about 0.27x annual operating expense.

Operating margin landed at -10.7%, with 86.6% of revenue coming from tuition. Among same-size peers, that puts Chattanooga Christian School at the p0 on operating margin.