OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A State Senator reacts one day after the Oklahoma Attorney General sent a letter to the Oklahoma Department of Education criticizing a yearlong wait to provide life-saving inhalers to schools. In his letter to State Superintendent Ryan Walters on Wednesday, AG Gentner Drummond made clear, in no uncertain terms, that Walters needs to get schools the inhalers immediately and should never have waited this long to begin with. RELATED COVERAGE: Funding for emergency inhalers in schools hits possible roadblock On Thursday, Senate Appropriations Chairman Chuck Hall, R-Perry, responded with his letter to Walters, urging him to use the allocated $250,000 for inhalers and to distribute them. In the letter, Hall writes, “My strong recommendation is to follow the legislative intent, the result of your RFI (Request for Information), and the counsel of the attorney general and multiple members of the legislature and get this money out to the McLarty Foundation, as they are the only organization that offers this service.” Hall also wants Walters to provide proof that the inhalers are purchased as well as details on the distribution to schools. RELATED COVERAGE: Drummond sends Walters scathing letter criticizing year-long delay in supplying schools life-saving inhalers In August, more than a year and one month after legislators gave OSDE the $250K, Walters requested Drummond give him a formal opinion with guidance on how to use the money. “Regardless of the method, speed is of the essence,” Drummond wrote in the letter. “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. Candidly, failing to implement legislative directives and installing roadblocks to potentially life-saving medicines at the expense of kids reflects a lack of understanding of basic purchasing procedures, at a minimum, and perhaps a disingenuous unwillingness to act.” “I am also requesting Superintendent Walters provide the numbers of inhalers and the amount of money the State Department of Education has spent on inhalers, as his spokesperson told several media outlets yesterday," wrote Sen. Hall. "I have been in communication with the McLarty Foundation, and they have not received any reimbursement for the distribution of inhalers from the State Department of Education.” Hall's letter to Superintendent Ryan Walters: Hall-Walters letter concerning inhalers in schoolsDownload Letter_Ryan-Walters-re-Emergency-Inhalers-Letter-of-Counsel_100224 gentner drummond letter to ryDownload