Allied Security will provide security for the Calcasieu Parish school district for the remainder of the 2024-25 school year.

At the January Calcasieu Parish School Board meeting on Tuesday, the board unanimously voted to allow Allied Security to take over Statigos Dyanmics’ contract with the district to provide security to 38 campuses.

CPSB entered a $1.7 million contract with Stratigos before the 2023-24 school year to bolster school security efforts. On Jan. 3, Stratigos notified CPSB that the company was filing for bankruptcy.

Superintendent Jason VanMetre said Allied Security came in second during the original Request for Proposals (RFP) process. The company has agreed to finish out the 2024-25 contract with the same terms and cost. CPSB will re-advertise an RFP for security services for the 2025-26 school year “and beyond,” he said.

Allied Security will provide the same amount of security coverage as Statigos, and the company’s officers go through the same vetting process, he confirmed.

VanMetre told board members Allied Security plans to hire many existing Stratigos officers so they can return to the campuses where they have established relationships.

Allied Security officers should be on CPSB campuses at the beginning of next week, he said.

On Jan. 6, local law enforcement representatives met with the district to organize extra law enforcement presence in place of Stratigos. VanMetre thanked the law enforcement offices for their aid.

“The sheriff’s office, the marshal’s office, all the local municipalities, police forces have really come through for us and there’s been a big increased presence at our schools,” he said. “We really appreciate that.”

The district will encourage law enforcement to continue to send extra officers in addition to Allied Security’s presence. VanMetre called the additional security presence a “silver lining.”