School Specialty (SCHS) Announces Completion of Debt Refinancing

GREENVILLE, Wis., May 23, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — School Specialty (Nasdaq:SCHS), a leading K-12 education company with the broadest array of products in the market, today announced that it has refinanced its existing credit facility with two new separate agreements. The new multi-year agreements consist of a secured $200 million asset-based credit agreement with a group co-led by affiliates of Wells Fargo & Company and GE Capital, and a separate secured $70 million credit agreement with an affiliate of Bayside Capital, Inc. The new agreements replace the credit agreement dated April 23, 2010, and last amended on July 1, 2011, which had outstanding borrowings of $130 million as of May 18, 2012.

“We are pleased to announce the refinancing of our credit agreement,” said President and CEO Michael P. Lavelle. “The new asset-based credit agreement and term loan provides us with a more appropriate borrowing structure for our business. With this important step in our planning behind us, we are poised to further focus our business and accelerate our transformational activities to drive long term growth and enhance value to our customers and investors.”

Additional details regarding the Company’s new credit agreements will be set forth in its Current Report on Form 8-K, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About School Specialty, Inc.

School Specialty is a leading education company that provides innovative and proprietary products, programs and services to help educators engage and inspire students of all ages and abilities to learn. The company designs, develops, and provides preK-12 educators with the latest and very best curriculum, supplemental learning resources, and school supplies. Working in collaboration with educators, School Specialty reaches beyond the scope of textbooks to help teachers, guidance counselors and school administrators ensure that every student reaches his or her full potential.

Accelerated Learning’s major products include: Wordly Wise 3000^®, Premier™ Agenda, Delta Education™, FOSS^®, CPO Science™, Frey Scientific^®, Educator’s Publishing Service, Academy of Reading^®, Think Math!™, MCI^®, S.P.I.R.E.^® and SPARK™ .   Educational Resources proprietary brands include: Education Essentials^®, Sportime®, Childcraft®, Sax® Arts & Crafts, Califone^®, abc^®, Abilitations^®, School Smart^®, Classroom Select™ and Projects by Design^®.

For more information about School Specialty, visit www.schoolspecialty.com.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Information

Any statements made in this press release about future results of operations, expectations, plans, prospects, or asset values, constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements also include those preceded or followed by the words “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “should,” “plans,” “targets” and/or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on School Specialty’s current estimates and assumptions and, as such, involve uncertainty and risk. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements because of a number of factors, including the factors described in Item 1A of School Specialty’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2011, which factors are incorporated herein by reference. Except to the extent required under the federal securities laws, School Specialty does not intend to update or revise the forward-looking statements.

CONTACT: David Vander Ploeg
         Executive VP and CFO
         920-882-5854

         Elizabeth M. Higashi, CFA
         Investor relations
         920-243-5392