Kelley Bloomer has been hired as Big Walnut High School’s new assistant principal.

Bloomer will replace Sarah Wytzka who has moved to the assistant principal’s position at Big Walnut Intermediate School.

School board members approved Bloomer’s two-year contract, which carries a $72,000 annual salary, on July 27. Wytzka’s move and Bloomer’s hire were effective Aug. 1.

Board members also approved moving Kami Mathews from General Rosecrans Elementary School to the Central Office as an administrative assistant.

Board members held a special meeting on July 27 because, in Ohio, administrative contracts typically begin on Aug. 1 and the board’s next regular meeting is Aug. 13, past the Aug. 1 deadline.

In other business, board members adopted a calamity day alternative for the 2015-16 school year. The 2015-16 school year begins on Monday, Aug. 15.

Ohio school districts are permitted five calamity days, typically used during winter months due to snow events, icy roads or extremely low temperatures. If the district exceeds the five allotted calamity days, classroom time is made up or, under Ohio Revised Code, a board of education may file an annual alternative make-up plan with the Ohio Department of Education to provide online learning opportunities for students in lieu of making up actual days in school.

Big Walnut’s calamity day alternative make-up plan will go into effect after the district uses its five calamity days. It requires each classroom teacher to develop lessons requiring equal or more instructional time that the student would receive for three school days in his or her teacher’s class.

No later that Nov. 1, each classroom teacher will be required to develop a sufficient number of lessons for each course taught by that teacher with such lessons requiring, in the judgment of the teacher, an amount of time equal to or greater than the number of hours that are the equivalent of three school days in that teacher’s class.

The teacher will also designate the order in which the lessons are to be posted on the district’s web portal, and update or replace the lessons as necessary throughout the school year, based on the instructional progress of students.

As soon as possible after an announced school closure, the administration may direct staff to make the designated lessons available on the district’s portal. Each lesson would be posted for each course that was scheduled to meet on the day of the school closing.

Each student enrolled in a course for which a lesson is posted will be granted a two-week period from the date of posting to complete the lesson. If the student does not complete the lesson within this time period, the student will receive an incomplete or failing grade unless a reason sufficient to the teacher is provided.

Students without access to a computer will be permitted to complete the posted lessons at school after the reopening of school, due two weeks from the date of reopening.

The district will provide access to district computers before, during, or after the school day, provided that the equipment is available and accessible at those times; or may provide a substantially similar paper lesson in order for students to complete the assignments.

The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, in the Big Walnut High School media center.