Twelve years ago, Brendon McLarty, a 16-year-old from Perry, was at baseball practice. Brendon, described by his parents as "an All-American small town kid," loved baseball. He also had asthma.
During practice, Brendon had an asthma attack. He didn't have an inhaler.
The attack killed him.
Five years after Brendon’s death in 2017, the teen's family founded the Brendon McLarty Memorial Foundation. The foundation’s goal was to promote asthma awareness and education .
The foundation moved quickly. Shortly after it opened, it donated $8,000 to the Children's Center Rehabilitation Hospital in Bethany to fund asthma education training for five respiratory therapists and partnered with the Children’s Center to create one of the only pediatric asthma education programs in Oklahoma.
In 2019, the foundation began a partnership with Oklahoma Children's Hospital OU Health. During the spring of 2019, the foundation endorsed Senate Bill 381, known as “Brendon’s Bill." Written by Senate Minority Leader Kay Floyd and Rep. Mickey Dollens, both Oklahoma City Democrats, the measure authorized schools to stock emergency albuterol inhalers in the event that a child goes into respiratory distress. It also required at least two staff members at the school be trained on how to use them.
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The bill easily passed both houses of the Legislature with bipartisan support and was signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt on April 23, 2019.
Since then, the foundation has provided more than 1,000 inhalers and 10,000 disposable spacers ― an adapter which allows the inhaler to be used by more than one person — to 282 school districts in Oklahoma.
Lawmakers earmarked funds for inhalers but the money remains unspent
In 2023, state lawmakers, partnered with the foundation to develop and pass legislation that earmarked $250,000 to buy albuterol inhalers and spacers for each of Oklahoma's 509 school districts. That bill, which leveraged the one in 2019, easily passed both the House and Senate and was signed by the governor.
But the money was never spent.
Instead of working with the foundation to purchase inhalers, officials at the Oklahoma State Department of Education complained about the legislation and sat on the funds. The state Education Department said there were problems with the bill, including language they said would violate the central purchasing act and legislative intent. They claimed the plan would run afoul of the medical licensure board and cause problems with sole source contracts.
As of the end of last week, the McClarty foundation had not received a cent of the $250,000 earmarked by lawmakers to purchase the inhalers. Despite repeated attempts by lawmakers to get the inhalers purchased, involving multiple requests, telephone calls and text messages, state Education Department officials continued to sit on the funds.
On July 17, Senate Appropriations Chairman Sen. Chuck Hall and his House counterpart, Rep. Kevin Wallace, sent a joint letter to state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters requesting the funds be used. A copy of that letter, obtained by The Oklahoman, said, "The intent at the time the appropriation was passed was that SDE would work with the Brendon McLarty Memorial Foundation to purchase inhalers for Oklahoma schools."
"None of the funds have been allocated for the purchase of inhalers," Hall and Wallace wrote. "I am requesting the Department contract with the foundation to get the funds out in the most expedient fashion before the school year begins."
Government, the pair wrote, "should not have this many roadblocks to potential life-saving medicines."
Hall said he has been in regular contact with the state Education Department since the bill passed and was given a litany of different answers about why the funds had not been distributed. Hall said he also spoke and texted with Walters. He said Walters told him he would address the issue.
Last week, Hall tried again and was told by the state Education Department's legal staff the money would not be distributed.
OSDE: Central Purchasing Act prohibits sole source contracting
In a statement to The Oklahoma last Thursday, Dan Isett, the state Education Department's spokesman, blamed Hall for the problem.
"As Senator Hall knows, the Central Purchasing Act generally prohibits state agencies from sole source contracting, and the inhalers do not qualify as sole source under 74 O.S. §85.44D.1," Isett wrote in an emailed statement to The Oklahoman. "Neither House Bill 1004X nor Senate Bill 36X contain a line item directing funds to the McLarty Foundation. OSDE may not legally fulfill his stated intent, which was not reflected in the legislation."
Isett said state Education Department staff reminded Sen. Hall of the issue last year. "They suggested an RFI and an RFP. Senator Hall agreed to an RFI and a process whereby OSDE could recommend the McLarty Foundation as a vendor. Last month, Senator Hall rescinded his agreement, delaying the process even further," Isett said. "OSDE is committed to full transparency and accountability with taxpayer funds."
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Isett, however, did not answer the two other questions submitted to him by The Oklahoman:
- Since the McLarty Foundation reports that emergency asthma inhalers were used more that 2,000 times last year, doesn't the OSDE refusal to allocate the funds put students at risk? And,
- What plan does OSDE have to distribute the funds for emergency inhalers?
State documents show that most state courts, judges and other officials use legislative intent to determine the goals of legislators when a bill passes. "This practice involves reviewing the plain language of a legislative act, as well as other materials like debate transcripts, committee notes, and available drafts," records from the Oklahoma Digital Prairie show.
"Oklahoma doesn't record legislative intent like many states and the federal government do. The only official legislative history for Oklahoma legislative measures is procedural and can be found in the journals of the House and Senate," the archive noted.
Just about a week after Hall and Wallace sent their letter to the state Education Department on July 22, Sandra Benischek Harrison, the interim executive director of the Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision, sent a letter to Hall which stated the board had no concern about the law.
"The dispensing and administration of inhalers by Oklahoma school districts, as outlined in 70 O.S. 1-116.3 do not violate Oklahoma laws in Title 59 governing the licensure of physicians. The law and administrative code provide clear guidelines that ensure legal and medical standards are upheld, protecting both students and staff. Providing the law is followed there is no concern from the Oklahoma Medical Board," Harrison wrote.
A notation on the letter shows that Harrison sent a copy to state schools Superintendent Walters and Andrew Fielding, the chief operating officer of the state Education Department.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers continue to push the state Education Department to follow the Legislature's directive.
The funds, however, remain at the state Education Department unspent.
Dollens: State should ensure access to critical resources
Dollens, one of the authors of the 2019 legislation, said he was frustrated by the state Education Department's action. Dollens said lawmakers appropriated $250,000 to purchase life-saving inhalers to prevent tragic incidents like the one that happened to Perry baseball player McLarty.
"For the state superintendent to withhold this dedicated funding for these essential inhalers could jeopardize the lives of students, just as it did for Brendon McLarty. It is imperative that we ensure access to these critical resources to protect our children’s health and well-being," Dollens said.
Hall, the Senate appropriations chairman, echoed Dollens. He said his frustration with the state Education Department's actions grew daily. Hall said he knew Brendon McLarty and was supportive of the foundation's efforts to prevent future emergency asthma attacks.
"The foundation has been very successful in seeking out private donations," he said. "I met with the foundation and felt like a private-public partnership would make sense."
Hall said state lawmakers have passed several bills addressing school security. He said making sure schools had proper emergency equipment — including the Albuterol inhalers for asthma emergencies — was simply a way to address school health and save lives.
"We [were] working with our House counterparts," Hall said. "(Everyone) knew this is a life-saving measure. A year ago, we put $250,000 for sole source with the McLarty foundation so they could put inhalers in every classroom. We ran that through the state Department of Education."
After the bill passed, Hall said state Education Department officials met with lawmakers and with representatives of the McLarty foundation about the program. "Then the months started to tick by," he said. "One month went by. Then three months. Six months. Nine months. Finally, I really got frustrated and started having meetings with SDE asking why."
Hall said the funds were available and the agency knew the Legislature's intent. "We're putting children's lives at risk," he said. "Because we're not getting this money out the door."
Hall said: "SDE had excuse, after excuse, after excuse. (They needed) more detailed information. Internal processes. Or the person in charge of that is no longer working there and you have to start all over."
Following several meetings, Hall said he met with and texted Walters about the issue, yet the issue remains unresolved.
"Here we are now, into the next fiscal year for both the schools and the Legislature and the is still not out the door and I am beyond frustrated with this process," he said. "We we do a limits bill and clearly identify inhalers in the classroom and make the money available, it is time to save children's lives. It's still not out the door and I'm extremly frustrated."
Blair: emergency inhalers used more than 2,800 times last year
Though heart disease and cancer remain the leading causes of death in Oklahoma, asthma affects thousands of residents each year. Records from the Oklahoma State Department of Health show that, in 2012 one in every ten Oklahoma adults 18 years and older (292,000 people) reported they currently had asthma.
In addition, those records show about 123,100 Oklahoma children younger than 18 were diagnosed with asthma at some point in their life and those same statistics show that boys are diagnosed more frequently with asthma than girls. In Oklahoma, non-Hispanic Black children had significantly higher prevalence of lifetime and current asthma than Hispanic children.
For Jennifer Blair, the executive director of the Brendon McLarty Memorial Foundation, those numbers represent far too many school children at risk. She said that during the 2023-24 school year, emergency inhalers provided by the foundation were used more than 2,800 times by Oklahoma school districts.
"Those are the documented uses," she said. When the inhalers are used, about 87% of the time the student is able to return to class, she said.
"They are definitely saving lives," she said. "We get testimonials all the time."
Still, the tiny foundation — with its limited resources ― remains the only entity in the state committed to a simple goal: getting emergency inhalers in every public school in Oklahoma.
"We've been doing this for five years," Blair said. "And it works. The kids are getting help and the students (who suffer the attacks) are going back to class."
Hall: Lawmakers will bypass OSDE, clawback funds
With school set to begin in a few days and thousands of potential asthma emergencies possible, Hall said lawmakers are moving to Plan B to ensure each school has a supply of emergency inhalers. He said legislators were looking at running the funds through a different agency to ensure the McLarty Foundation has the necessary funds to purchase inhalers.
Hall said it was also possible to clawback the funds from the state Education Department.
But Hall remains frustrated with the department and pushed back against Isett's claims about an RFI and an RFP. He said Isett's claims that he "rescinded his agreement, delaying the process even further" was false.
"I do not disagree with any statement they made that suggested we do an RFI or RFP with the potential endgame we could identify the McLarty Foundation as the potential vendor," he said. "I don't disagree. That discussion happened."
But Hall disputed the claim that he had rescinded any agreement.
"When they suggested an RFI or an RFP, I said, 'Whatever we need to do to get the money out the door, let's do it,'" he said. "I told them if it's an RFI or an RFP, let's get the money out the door. But weeks went by, and there was no RFI or RFP. So, I call them back in and asked what was going on?"
It was at that point, Hall said, that the state Education Department changed its story again.
"They said if we can get the hospital association to agree and the medical board to agree, and if we could get a letter of legislative intent, then we don't believe we would have any problem."
Hall said he got all the parties together who agreed to support the plan to have the McLarty foundation issue inhalers. "We were all at the table," he said. "We answered the questions then."
Every time we're on the phone or have a meeting with them, I feel slow-played, Hall said.
"It's (always) something else," he said. "They need more documentation from the foundation. They need this. They need that. They can't sole source it. Whatever," he said. "There is no justifiable reason in my opinion of why these things are not coming out in a timely basis. It's unjustifiable in my mind. We wouldn't be here if this hadn't been delayed for more than a year."
The state Education Department, he said, is playing the blame game when it comes to producing outcomes the Legislature expects.
"I see this as a sole source," he said. "This is the only organization that we are aware of right now that's doing this. They are trained on it. They are in 300 schools now. They're doing this. The schools love it. They are the right choice."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OK Education Department sitting on funds for emergency asthma inhalers, lawmakers say
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