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.