A behavioral scientist is calling on the Lexington School Committee to require a structured "human-learning audit" before voting on whether to approve Alpha School, the AI-driven private school seeking to open at 92 Hayden Ave.

Gleb Tsipursky, a former Ohio State University professor and CEO of the consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts, published the proposal as a letter to the editor in The Lexington Observer on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Tsipursky holds a PhD in the History of Behavioral Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. from Harvard, according to his professional biography.

His proposed audit would track four metrics over several weeks: when students solve a problem without help, when the AI system adjusts difficulty, when a human guide intervenes, and when a student can explain the reasoning behind an answer in their own words. The audit would also log questionable AI outputs and how quickly an adult catches them.

"The point is to distinguish faster task completion from deeper learning," Tsipursky wrote.

The framework targets a core concern School Committee members raised when Alpha representatives presented on June 16. Member Eileen Jay said at that meeting, as reported by the Lexington Observer, that "mastering something and showing that you can master it is one thing, but in all of those disciplines, including math and science, there's a strong element of critical thinking that needs to be developed."

Alpha's model has students spend two hours daily on AI-based core academics, with the system adjusting difficulty based on performance. The rest of the day is devoted to "life skills workshops." The school employs "guides" rather than licensed teachers and charges $55,000 to $65,000 per year per student, according to prior Lexington Observer reporting.

Tsipursky framed the central question for the committee as whether students leave Alpha with "stronger judgment, curiosity, writing, discussion skills, and independence." If Alpha cannot demonstrate that, he wrote, "the committee should know before novelty becomes policy."

The proposal comes as Alpha pursues rapid national growth. Axios reported on Aug. 2 that the company plans to expand from about a dozen to roughly 50 campuses in 2026, with tuition nationally ranging from $45,000 to $75,000. Penn State education professor Gerald LeTendre told Axios in that report: "Right now we're conducting a gigantic experiment on the human population, on our children, without any good scientific knowledge."

Lexington's review is ongoing. Superintendent Julie Hackett is leading a team examining Alpha's staffing quality, instructional time, arts access and student support. A recommendation is expected several months after the School Committee's August meeting. No specific vote date has been announced.