District 57 officials told the board on Sept. 23 that a prerecorded lockdown announcement at Lincoln Middle School sounded in error on Sept. 4 after being inadvertently linked to a panic alarm at Westbrook during summer systems work. Superintendent Dr. Gore said the district has audited phones and speakers, added notification methods for large commons areas and changed the prerecorded message to include attention tones and repeated messaging.

The incident was discovered after systems testing this summer and a rollback of an update to the Revolution bell/paging software, officials said. District staff traced the immediate cause to a setting change made after the rollback that removed prior configurations; in a hurried correction, the Lincoln paging group was accidentally associated with Westbrook’s panic alarm, which produced the false announcement at Lincoln when Westbrook’s alarm was activated during a planned drill.

Student board members and Lincoln staff described fear and confusion. A student board member said: “My experience with the lockdown drill felt like an emotional roller coaster. At first my teacher barricaded the door and my classmates and I followed the procedure … Even though we did everything correctly, the situation highlighted issues with communication and how quickly information reaches students and staff.” The district said Mount Prospect police quickly confirmed there was no threat and Lincoln staff released classrooms and reassured students.

District staff described the technical sequence: a full systems test Aug. 8 showed the panic alarms, paging and dispatch notifications working. On Aug. 22 a planned lockdown drill at Lincoln did not play the prerecorded announcement when the panic alarm was pressed; dispatch was notified and the principal made a manual announcement. That event was a signal that settings had not carried over after the rollback. On Sept. 4, during a scheduled Westbrook drill, the linked Lincoln paging group caused Lincoln’s prerecorded announcement to play unexpectedly.

Officials listed corrective steps already taken and planned: revising the prerecorded announcement so it begins with a non-jarring attention tone and repeats multiple times; a room-by-room check of phones and volumes; temporary volume increases; orders placed with Valcom for additional speakers and with Heartland Business Systems for clocks with integrated “flasher” lights in common areas; and an external safety audit by West 40, with that audit to be reviewed in a closed session because it contains security-sensitive material.

Staff also said they will coordinate procedure and communications with the Mount Prospect Police Department, add new notification channels for nonclassroom spaces and retest systems after equipment installation. The district said it will update procedures to require broader retesting after future software updates to ensure configurations are preserved.

Board members and staff stressed the emotional impact on students and staff as part of the board’s public record. One board member thanked Lincoln staff and families “for their calm and cooperation” and said the incident has prompted immediate changes to reduce the risk that a similar false alarm would cause confusion or harm.

No formal vote was recorded on operational changes during the meeting; officials said some actions (the West 40 audit review) will be discussed with the board in a closed session because of security sensitivity.