Education

The Kentucky Department of Education’s new restraint and seclusion policy proposal is in the final stages of approval this week and will go before the state’s Administrative Regulatory Review Committee Monday.

Kentucky is one of several states that don’t have a law regulating restraint and seclusion for misbehaving students. Instead, the Kentucky Board of Education sets the governing policies, but the department has acknowledged changes to the regulations are needed.

About 875 University of Louisville students are expected to walk Thursday evening in the school’s winter commencement ceremony -- among them is the school’s first African-American student to earn a master’s degree in bioengineering.

Britt Faulkner says she grew up in a single parent household. When electronics needed to be fixed, she was often the one giving it a try. So, she says bioengineering was a natural fit. But the program was challenging.

“I’ve wanted to change majors a million times probably.”

Jefferson County Public Schools is opening a hotline Wednesday and Thursday nights to answer questions parents and families may have regarding state test results that have been mailed.

The number to call between 5 to 7 pm is 485-7190.

Officials say experts will be on hand to answer questions about testing and the reporting itself. You can also get a tutorial here.

Indiana's recently ousted state school superintendent is Florida's new education commissioner.

The State Board of Education selected Tony Bennett, a Republican who lost a bid for re-election in Indiana last month, today in Tampa.

The board picked Bennett from a slate of three finalists.

The others were Murray State University President Randy Dunn, who once served as state superintendent in Illinois, and Arlington, Va., education consultant Charles Hokanson, a former deputy assistant U.S. secretary of education in President George W. Bush's administration.