The second floor of the Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts, which leases the former library building from the city, could soon house a location of the private, artificial intelligence-driven Alpha School.

The school was praised last year by the Trump administration as a model for education, and tuition is expected to be about $45,000 a year.

The school would operate through the Love & Life Foundation, a nonprofit that delivers disaster aid and is led by Winter Park residents Matthew and Paige Wideman.

Matthew Wideman said that mission overlaps with the for-profit Alpha School because he views K-12 public education as being in crisis.

“What I would argue is our mission is lifting up the hands of those that are oppressed or impacted, and we look at the education system as a disaster,” Matthew Wideman told the Voice.

He said the school’s innovative approach is one potential solution and that the second floor of the old city library is an ideal setting for a school designed to “empower and prepare children for the world of tomorrow.”

The Alpha model was founded in Austin, Texas, where students spend about two hours a day on core subjects such as math using AI-led modules. Human staff members — known as “guides” rather than teachers — spend the rest of the day helping students develop business, public speaking and other project-based skills.

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon visited the school last year and said she was “blown away” by the model, according to news reports. Her visit came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order promoting the use of AI in schools.

“They use a more tailored program to find out what the child’s interests and talents and gifts are and help them find that at a young age,” Paige Wideman said. She added that she appreciated the school’s emphasis on “EQ,” or emotional intelligence.

The Widemans, who have five children ranging in age from 2 to 13, said they personally fund their foundation and could potentially provide scholarships for the school, which is known for tuition of about $45,000 a year or, in some cities, more.

Many private schools in Florida accept public vouchers or public education dollars that can be spent at private schools.

But a provision in the draft lease would prohibit the school from accepting vouchers.

“The school shall not have more than 50 students, and will not accept school vouchers funded by the State of Florida for those students’ tuition or expenses,” according to a copy of the lease posted with the City Commission agenda for next Wednesday’s meeting.

The vouchers — commonly known to parents as Step Up for Students scholarships — are at the center of a new lawsuit filed by Florida’s largest teachers union and several parents, including Orange County School Board member Stephanie Vanos, who represents Winter Park and has three children of her own.

The lawsuit alleges the program violates the constitution because the state now sends more than $5 billion in public money to private and charter schools through vouchers while not requiring those schools to follow the same standards as traditional public schools.

Matthew Wideman and Jeff Flowers, who runs Blue Bamboo, said the restriction on vouchers was requested by the city.

City spokeswoman Clarissa Howard said city staff did not advise on the voucher issue or initiate the requirement.

Wideman said his core business is real estate. He holds an ownership interest in Truist Plaza, the downtown Orlando high-rise, among other ventures through The Wideman Company LLC.

He also said his foundation has partnered with Starlink, part of SpaceX, to restore communications after hurricanes and other disasters.

Alpha School also operates a location in Brownsville, Texas, near Elon Musk’s new rocket hub and city known as Starbase. The school also has campuses in five other states, including Florida locations in Palm Beach Gardens and Miami, according to the Alpha website.

Under the draft lease, the Love & Life Foundation would have the right to enter into agreements with third parties such as Alpha to provide operational, management and administrative services for the school.

Wideman said the school would benefit from Blue Bamboo’s performing arts infrastructure and expertise, including its stage, which students could use to practice public speaking and other skills.

Flowers, who helped finance Blue Bamboo for years and took over operations last year after founder Chris Cortez died, said the organization’s performers could serve as music teachers and provide other technical instruction for students.

The lease between Blue Bamboo and the city calls for the second and third floors of the building to be renovated within two years for “arts education, recording studio and local non-profit use.”

Flowers said the sublease is an important part of Blue Bamboo’s financial picture because its lease payment to the city is scheduled to increase from $132,000 a year to $276,000 a year in August.

The proposed lease with Wideman’s foundation calls for annual rent of $198,000 for the second floor, or about $18 per square foot for 11,000 square feet.

Last year, another nonprofit, Central Florida Vocal Arts, walked away from a sublease agreement with Blue Bamboo after becoming dissatisfied with the terms.

Flowers said the building’s third floor remains available for sublease.

He said he has invested both personal funds and Orange County grant money into improvements, including a staircase, a new elevator, a refurbished air-conditioning system and a new fire alarm system. Blue Bamboo received about $900,000 last year through a county grant program funded by the tourist development tax collected on hotel rooms.

Flowers said the venue’s performance calendar is mostly booked through January.

“We’re profitable,” Flowers said. “We’re paying the rent and the utility bill and keeping up with expenses.”