“Lockdown, locks, lights, out of sight,” was the call heard through the halls and over the school-wide intercom at 11:16 am Tuesday, September 17, 2024. Students, at lunch at the time, dropped backpacks, left food, and ran to the closest doored-off area. 

The lockdown call activates a system called, “RedBag.” These bags with QR codes can be found in all spaces with a door. Some spaces only have the QR code. 

After reaching out to RedBag creator, Chuck Mallot, we received more information to help teachers and students understand Englewood’s safety protocols a bit more. Malott said that it was designed to be used and accessible to anyone in the school during an emergency.  It does not require a pre-loaded app or any credentials to connect making it simple for anyone to use.

One chief complaint from students is they felt out of the loop in gathering information specifically about any emergencies. Mallot said students and staff should use RedBag.

Mallot said, “RedBag combines emergency supplies in the classroom with a QR code based non-verbal communication system that securely connects classrooms with first responders in an emergency.  RedBag also provides a “Trauma Informed” consistent, proven method for educating students, teachers and staff so they know what to do, know what is going on and know how to get help in an emergency.”

In an emergency, like the string of incidents on Tuesday, students and staff can scan the QR code and connect to the silent crisis communication system. According to Superintendent Joanna Polzin, “RedBag is currently used for lockdowns and will now be used for a “Hold” in certain situations, like yesterday. For example, we may need to place a “Hold” on classrooms if a student is having a medical emergency and medics are coming into the building to provide medical attention. In that case, we would not use RedBag. If we need to have students remain in classrooms in order to check a potential threat, then we would use RedBag.” The bag and QR code is geolocated to a specific room in the building. This can be viewed on a dashboard by first responders to see where students and staff are and if anyone needs help. For the user, the system opens to a window that asks the scanner if they have turned off lights, locked the doors and how many adults and students are in the space. 

The RedBag information is received by the Englewood School District security team and the Englewood Police Department. One critical element of the RedBag system is its two-way communication feature. District security staff can inform those locked in place what is happening and what actions should be taken to keep adults and students safe. It also allows adults to tell security staff if there is an emergency in the space to pinpoint critical issues during an emergency event. 

During Tuesday’s event, those who scanned the QR code were told to hold in place and told there was no shooter in the school. The message then evolved to a possible gas leak and a notice that police officers would be releasing spaces and students and staff were to report to the east side soccer field. 

Students and staff were then transported to Colorado’s Finest High School of Choice and reunified with their adults. 

When students are aware of the RedBag, they say they want to use it, “If we were able to have that information given to us, like, especially if we have students that are not in the building during that time. And if they have family members inside of the classes, they want to know what’s going on so that, so our students could just send them the link to that so that they could get minute by minute updates to see what is going on and if their families are safe in the building,” Owens said. 

 Malott says he monitored the incident Tuesday and found one of the most important aspects of the RedBag system is the ability to communicate two-ways. One message was sent to get help for a wheelchair bound student, and another was a student not cleared from a closet. 

He says students need to know this is a system for them as well.

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A summative message from the Superintendent came at 2:20 Tuesday:

Dear Families,

Thank you for your patience today with the situation at EMS/ELA/EHS (The Englewood Campus or TEC). There were several reports happening concurrently that I would like to clarify. 

At 11:01 a.m. we received a Safe2Tell with another generic threat of an explosive device on The Englewood Campus. Our School Resource Officer (SRO) was on site and immediately began to check into the report. At 11:23 a.m., I received notification from my Director of Safety and Security that a staff member reported a natural gas smell coming from inside the building. We then communicated to families that there was a possible gas smell and students were being moved to safety. At the same time, the SRO called a “Lockdown”. 

Two directives were given to “Lockdown” due to the report of the explosive device and then “Evacuate” due to the possible gas smell. After taking direction from the Englewood Police Department, we directed our staff to come out of lockdown and move students to the lower field of Englewood High School while EPD and the Fire Department checked the building. We then evacuated all students to Colorado’s Finest High School of Choice given the reports. We reunited families (and continue to do so at this time) with their students at Finest while EPD and the Fire Department checked The Englewood Campus. 

There were no explosive devices found and there was no gas leak on The Englewood Campus. The Englewood Police Department and the Fire Department have turned the building back over to Englewood Schools. 

Our partnership with emergency responders is very important to us. We will better coordinate with The Englewood Police Department when sending out posts on social media and communicating to families. We sincerely apologize for any miscommunication. We have work to do to restore your trust. 

Please reach out to me directly with any questions you have at [email protected].