Tensions ran high at the all-Island school committee meeting Thursday, as committee members weighed a proposal to open licensed, community-based learning centers for students not returning to the building this fall, further shifting education plans for a school year already in session.

The proposal was raised as a result of new, looser guidelines for licensed learning centers released by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. Under the guidelines, the EEC will license local organizations or community members to establish learning spaces for students in groups of 10 who are not receiving in-person instruction this year.

The idea for alternative, out-of-school learning spaces has already been floated at two recent up-Island school committee meetings and Chilmark selectmen’s meetings. Selectmen have offered the use of town spaces — like the Chilmark Community Center — as possible venues for remote learners to gather in groups.

Following the release of the EEC guidelines, a number of the public school’s nonprofit partners, such as Martha;s Vineyard Community Services and the YMCA, have also expressed interest in furnishing spaces for remote learners this fall.

Two organizations in particular — the Boys and Girls Club and the Y — have drafted formal plans for remote learning centers, slated to open as soon as possible.

Though still in the planning process, the organizations would work in concert with the public schools to provide spaces for students to gather and receive access to school technology and supplies, Vineyard school superintendent Matthew D’Andrea told the committee Thursday. The programs would be operated and staffed entirely by the nonprofits, but are committed to adopting the same safety procedures as the schools, the superintendent said.

“This is going to be a great opportunity for some families that might need that extra support,” Mr. D’Andrea said.

Chris Roberts, who is the interim director of the Boys and Girls Club, explained that the program will be open to students of all ages, but the services will be geared toward middle school students, with other grade levels returning to more consistent in-person instruction later this fall. The program will likely be held during school hours, but the club is also exploring the possibility of after school programming, Mr. Roberts said.

Final details surrounding transportation services, specific safety guidelines, and the possibility of providing lunch through the school lunch program are still up in the air, depending on community interest, Mr. Roberts said.

At the Y, director of operations Nina Lombardi is planning the Y’s program, called the Kindness Academy, which will serve the Island’s 5-8 grade population. Program hours will most likely be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m..

Assistant superintendent Richard Smith, who has spoken with the organizations about the plans, said the programs should be kept as uniform as possible to ensure safety and equity for all participating students. Mr. Smith also noted that the schools will have to advise each program on final enrollment. Currently, the organizations can provide only 100 or so spots for a total of several hundred middle schoolers on the Island, Mr. Smith said. “Positions are going to be limited. They want to work with our schools to figure out our children who will most benefit from the service,” he said.

At the meeting, the program proposals saw backing from school administrators like Mr. Smith and Mr. D’Andrea, who thanked the organizations for their contributions. Many members of the school committee also voiced their gratitude for the opportunity.

“I’m excited about it, I really am,” said committee chairman Robert Lionette. “I think this is an extra piece of support for working families and I’m incredibly appreciative.”

Other committee members however had strong reservations.

Lisa Regan expressed grave concerns about rolling out a program with so many moving pieces at such a late date. She questioned why discussions of middle school learning accommodations had been delayed for so long.

“Wouldn’t it have been smart to try to meet the needs of the fifth to eighth graders within our school buildings with our existing staff,” she said. “Today is the first day of school and the conversations been going on since March. It makes me so sad that for six months this hasn’t happened and I thank everybody for moving forward and trying to meet the needs of students, but I just feel that we can do better.”

In another wrinkle, the program provided by the Y is set at a fee of $45 a day, Ms. Regan said. The price tag troubled certain committee members, who worried about the inaccessibility of a program designed to help working families.

The proposal also raised broader issues of equity for the committee, with Ms. Regan questioning whether the group’s commitment to Islandwide educational plans serves its students better than district-wide reopening policies might.

“As a collaborative effort Island-wide, I know that we do our best to meet the needs of students, but I don’t necessarily think that needs to happen to meet the needs,” she said. “I think each school can be different.”

Other committee members, including Kate DeVane and Alex Salop, chimed in, but Mr. Smith bristled, expressing frustration that efforts by the schools to serve all students were being discounted.

“The smallest thing, like going into a school is reimagined and relearned. Sharpening a pencil is a reimagined, relearned thing,” he said. “I would hope that you all know that we’re bending over backwards to provide services.”

With many details of the proposal still murky and the meeting inching toward the two-hour mark, Mr. Lionette moved to adjourn, forgoing the meeting’s final agenda item to discuss an updated memorandum of agreement for teacher contracts.