Individualized education programs; guidelines/materials for students for addressing bullying, etc.

Changed from requiring school boards to immediately develop IEP guidelines to requiring the Department of Education to first develop guidelines and model instructional programs before making them available to school boards.

Added requirement for the Department to consult with special education instructors, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders when developing guidelines and instructional materials.

Expanded the Department's responsibilities to include developing model instructional programs or materials for students to increase awareness, understanding, and acceptance of neurodivergence and autism spectrum disorder.

Changed the focus from requiring IEP teams to consider whether children are vulnerable to bullying to recommending that IEP teams consider whether children have disabilities affecting social skills development or are experiencing bullying.