Lexington School Committee Defers Alpha School Vote, Orders Summer Review

LEXINGTON -- June 16, 2026, Lexington School Committee defers vote on Alpha School private application, orders August review. The committee voted 4-1 at its June 16 meeting to direct Superintendent Dr. Julie Hackett to assemble a working group and return August 25 with a work plan for a deeper review of Alpha School's application to open a Lexington campus at 92 Hayden Ave., effectively ruling out a September 2026 opening. Alpha Schools national head Dr. Tasha Arnold and operations director JC Fisher presented the school's mastery-based, app-driven model, featuring a two-hour personalized morning academic block, one-to-six guide-to-student ratios, and tuition of $55,000 to $65,000 per year, to extended committee questioning on guide qualifications, literacy instruction, data privacy, and financial aid timelines. Vice Chair Sarah Carter, who voted against the deferral, said she had heard enough to vote; Chair Larry Freeman, who moved the deferral, cited the need for educator input. The committee also heard from Lexington's full state legislative delegation, Representative Ken Gordon, Senator Cindy Friedman, and Representative Michelle Socolow, on S.2581, the pending bell-to-bell cell phone restriction bill now in conference committee, with Linehan flagging potential unfunded-mandate costs she estimated at close to $50,000 for Lexington High School alone.