Shaler Area School District getting new resource officer, security firm

The Shaler Area School District will have a new resource officer and a new security firm for the coming school year.

Township Patrolman Ken Wise will replace Patrolman Frank Spiker as school resource officer, the police department and school district each announced.

Meanwhile, Allied Universal will replace Capital Asset Protection in providing security guard services for the school district. The school board approved a three-year agreement with Allied Universal, from July 1 through June 30, 2028, during a special meeting on June 25.

Capital Asset Protection missed the deadline to submit a proposal to continue providing security guard services to the district, said Jennifer Tressler, district business manager. The district received nine proposals and interviewed three providers.

Allied Universal will provide a supervisor and four security guards at the high school, two guards at the middle school and one guard for the elementary school, according to its proposal to the district. The district can increase or decrease staffing levels with 30 days notice.

For the 2025-26 school year, hourly rates are $23.52 for security officers, $24.84 for event security officers and $27.48 for site supervisors.

Spiker is retiring in mid-July from the Shaler Township Police Department after a total of 33 years with the township, including 28 years as a police officer and 11 years as school resource officer, police Chief Sean Frank said.

After beginning with Shaler as a dispatcher, Spiker was the first school resource officer. The school district now has two resource officers, one from Shaler and one added in recent years from Millvale, Frank said.

The school district and municipalities each pay a share of the resource officers’ salaries.

Spiker is mentoring Wise to replace him in the coming school year, Frank said.

“He’s trying to share as much knowledge as he can in a couple of weeks,” he said.

Wise was chosen to be the new school resource officer from three who had expressed interest, Frank said. The others will be available to help if needed.

Wise has more than eight years of experience with Shaler. He worked at the University of Pittsburgh and part time for Indiana Township and Franklin Park before coming to Shaler, where he has been a motorcycle officer, Frank said.

“He’s very well known in the community, as Frank was,” the chief said. “He’s lived in Shaler most of his life, if not his whole life.”

In a statement, the school district said Wise already has a strong connection with many students and staff.

“Our school resource officers are integral parts of our school communities, not only providing safety, but offering mentorship and cultivating an uplifting school culture,” Superintendent Bryan O’Black said. “We are delighted to have Officer Wise joining our team and look forward to the ways he will serve our students.”

Wise will start work in the school district a week before classes begin, scheduled for Aug. 19.