Attorney General Genter Drummond issued a letter of counsel Wednesday addressing the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s delay in purchasing emergency inhalers for public schools. This comes following State Superintendent Ryan Walters' request for the attorney general weigh in.
Legislation from July of 2023 appropriated $250,000 to the state department to purchase emergency asthma inhalers for public schools.
OSDE waited seven months to start the process, causing frustration for legislators.
In August, the department announced that instead of directly acquiring the inhalers at a bulk rate, school districts must purchase the inhalers and request reimbursement.
Drummond says the state department must work with the Office of Management and Enterprise Services to determine the purchasing method for the inhalers, and admonished it for waiting so long to ask for guidance.
“Waiting more than a year to ask for guidance, changing procurement methods multiple times, and now requiring school districts to individually procure emergency inhalers is neither speedy nor responsible," Drummond wrote.
He says installing these roadblocks to life-saving medication reflects “a lack of understanding of basic purchasing procedures, at a minimum, and perhaps a disingenuous unwillingness to act."
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