News broke late last week that Hawk One, the company that was responsible for providing security guards at the District of Columbia’s 127 public schools, had gone belly up. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee handed out 388 pink slips to teachers and staff on the very day that the Hawk One guards didn’t show up to work. The combination may well have exacerbated a skirmish that broke out at McKinley High School on Friday in reaction to the layoffs, during which two people were arrested.

On Monday, DCPS put out a statement intended to calm concerns that inadequate security persisted at the city’s schools this week. The school district says it is working with D.C. police to provide additional security while guards with two new security companies, Securitas and US Security Associates, are deployed to campuses. The full announcement is after the jump.