Palm Valley School

Palm Valley School is burning the cushion faster than the 7-month buffer suggests. Expenses are outpacing revenue 9.1% vs 0.7% per year over three years, and the latest operating margin is -9.0% on a 96% tuition-dependent revenue mix. Covering the deficit at today's rate, reserves would last roughly 6.6 more years — the full budget, by contrast, is covered for about 7 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: -0.5 / 10, distressed.

Palm Valley School operates at 96% tuition dependency — among the most tuition-reliant 3% of peers in its cohort. A soft admissions year would flow straight to operations.

Palm Valley School reported $7.7M in revenue against $8.4M in expenses in fiscal year 2023, the most recent filing on record. Net assets stood at $5.1M — about 0.60x annual operating expense.

Operating margin landed at -9.0%, with 95.6% of revenue coming from tuition. Among same-size peers, that puts Palm Valley School at the p17 on operating margin.