May 15, 2026
Dear Parent/Guardian,
We are pleased to inform you about a new school health initiative designed to increase safety for all students. Beginning in July 2024, Maryland passed a law (Md. Code Ann., Educ. § 7-426.6 and § 7-426.7) that allows your child’s school to stock, maintain, and administer an albuterol inhaler to treat students in grades Kindergarten - 12th who experience respiratory distress or breathing emergencies while at school.
Albuterol is a fast-acting inhaled medication that helps open airways, making breathing easier. Quick access to this medication is vital, as asthma symptoms or breathing problems can occur unexpectedly. Designated school staff will be trained to respond rapidly and appropriately to respiratory emergencies.
While the trained school staff will make every effort to contact parents/guardians before giving albuterol, the law allows them to administer albuterol stocked by the school in an emergency without prior parental contact.
If your child has asthma, we urge you to notify your child’s school and provide them with a Prescriber’s Medication Order Form and/or asthma action plan from your child’s doctor. Considering the stock albuterol inhaler is not a replacement for a student’s personal inhaler, we strongly encourage families of children with asthma to bring a personal inhaler prescribed by a medical provider for school use.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your School Nurse or Dr. Traci Jones, Supervisor for the Office of School Health, at 301-749-4722 or traci.jones@pgcps.org. Thank you for your continued support.
