The all-Island school committee has begun setting the stage for improved health and wellness programs in schools across the Island.

At its meeting on Monday, the committee agreed to find a consultant to review health and wellness programming at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School and six elementary schools on the Island, not including the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School. The consultant will also help create a task force that could come up with an action plan to present to the school health and wellness subcommittee.

Discussion on Monday focused largely on the question of who would serve on the task force. Chairman Michael Marcus said it would include guidance counselors and members of the community, although the exact makeup was undetermined. Others stressed the importance of community representation within the group.

Public schools business administrator Amy Tierney said the Island Parents Advisory Council would be an obvious choice to represent the community, although she added that finding one person to represent every interest would be a challenge. She urged community members in general to attend the task force meetings.

Assistant superintendent Richard Smith said between $3,000 and $4,000 could be freed up for the consultant by altering a new life-skills training program that begins in fifth rather than third grade. “The primary group that we wanted to make sure that we encompassed was our middle school group, so this would still allow for that,” he said of the state-funded program, which is expected to begin next year.

The committee voted 7-1 to identify a health and wellness consultant.

In other business, the committee discussed the possibility of bringing facilities director Mike Taus’s position entirely within the high school budget.

“We have stretched him and the position too far,” committee member Robert Lionette said, noting the extra work Mr. Taus has done for up-Island schools. “I’m putting it out there,” he said. “I think it’s actually something we need to discuss in our budget cycle for the following season.”

Vineyard schools superintendent Matt D’Andrea agreed that a reevaluation is in order but said he would rather not create a new position. “I’m not convinced right now that we need an all-Island facilities director full-time position,” Mr. D’Andrea said. “It definitely is an area that we could possibly tweak and make it more effective.”

He noted that Mr. Taus had been carrying a heavy workload at the high school, where there are many facility needs including deficiencies with the athletic fields that have stirred intense debate in the community.

Debate surrounding the fields has cooled since May, when a community group proposed a natural alternative to artificial turf. The regional high school committee had planned to discuss those efforts prior to the all-Island school committee meeting on Monday, but lacked a quorum.