Martha’s Vineyard school leaders finally offered a first look at a reopening plan for the fall semester on Thursday, rolling out a complicated, phased approach that would eventually have all students back in schools by Oct. 1.

The plan presented at an all-Island school committee meeting Thursday afternoon has been mulled over for weeks by various school subcommittees and task forces before officials aired it for the first time Thursday. A final version of the proposal — around 190 pages, school officials said — must be submitted to the state by the first week in August.

All Massachusetts schools are required to prepare plans for three different scenarios — remote learning, in-person learning, and a hybrid model — in order to reopen. Proposals were due to be submitted to the state Friday. A formal decision from Gov. Charlie Baker on school reopening is expected sometime in August.

But according to the plan preferred by the Island school’s health and wellness committee, school officials hope to use some combination of the three plans submitted to Gov. Baker when school starts back up this upcoming fall.

Under the Vineyard school plan, remote learning for all students would begin on Thursday, Sept. 17. Ten days later on Monday, Sept. 27, kindergarten through third grade students would begin to attend school in person as part of the school’s hybrid learning model. All students would transition into in the hybrid model by Oct. 1.

School leaders outlined the hybrid learning model as a combination of remote and in-person learning, during which students would be broken up into two separate cohorts that would each spend two out of the five weekdays in a school building. Mr. D’Andrea said students would either have in-person learning Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday. Wednesdays would be used as a full remote learning day to allow for cleaning and teaching collaboration.

“The task force, we had a three-hour meeting where we really pushed this proposal around,” Mr. D’Andrea said. “It went around and around and we talked about every piece of it. And this is where it landed. Based on information received from the health and wellness subcommittee, we feel strongly that this is the best way to proceed.”

He said any changes or subsequent adjustments would occur as the Covid-19 situation unfolds.

“There are many, many, many unanswered questions,” the superintendent cautioned. “That are going to be answered in time as we get closer to the school year, and actually, as we are in the school year.”

Governor Baker has already shortened the school year from 180 to 170 days, allowing school districts to begin 10 days late. Mr. D’Andrea said Island schools will use the 10 days for staff-only professional development, giving teachers and faculty time to learn proper safety and PPE protocols.

“This phased-in approach will allow for a safe, slow, and measured reopening of the school year,” the plan says.

At the school committee meeting Thursday, Mr. D’Andrea emphasized that the decision to gradually phase in on-site learning was not final and that he wanted to air it with school committee members before they vote on the proposal. But he said the plan took into account input from numerous subcommittees, parent surveys and health experts, with officials concluding that a full, in-person plan was impossible because of numerous challenges.

The plan also states that two Vineyard schools — the high school and the Tisbury School — are physicially unable to accommodate full in-person learning with social distancing guidelines of three to six feet. Transportation issues would also hamper any full, in-person learning scenario, with buses requiring assigned seats, limited riders and additional runs. Approximately 40 per cent of students in the district are bused. Health and safety concerns from staff were also a factor.

Survey questions that went out earlier this month to parents showed that there is a strong concern about the virus but that most parents wanted their children back in schools. Nearly 70 per cent of 1,390 responding parents said they would be “likely” or “very likely” to send their kids back to schools with the safety measures described. Eight per cent said “not likely” and two per cent said they would not be sending their kids back to school at all.

But over 20 per cent of parents also said they did not have enough information to make a decision about sending their kids back to school. And while 99 per cent of parents said their child had access to the internet at home, only 68 per cent said they had access to a remote virtual learning device, presenting further concerns for school administrators. Approximately 1,300 parents responded to questions.

All Island school committee members voiced enthusiasm for the proposal, saying that they felt it was thoughtful and appropriate considering the circumstances. Some committee members raised questions about the budgetary impact and the lack of guidance for students outside of school hours, but supported the plan overall.

“I think you’ve done a lot of analysis and come up with a cogent plan,” said committee member Alex Salop. “What we are proposing here is a hybrid model with a runway. And that, ultimately, is what people will be most interested and most likely to encourage and support.”

The all-Island committee is set to vote on the plan on August 6.