The recent vaccination of multiple individuals associated with the Upper Perkiomen School District last week for COVID-19 led to a functional closure for students. Administrators closed all buildings in the district on Friday, March 19, after 41 staff members called out sick the night before, according to Superintendent Allyn Roche.

            In an email message to the UPSD community, Roche wrote that the closure is necessary due to the large number of staff members out sick, mostly due to the reaction from the vaccinations.

            According to spokesperson Nicole Gum, 175 individuals – including instructional staff, operational staff and contractors – associated with the district were vaccinated Wednesday at the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit. They all received Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, a one-shot injection.

            As of 10 p.m. the following evening, 41 members across all five schools had already requested a sick day for March 19. That number, along with the potential for additional staff absence requests in the morning, forced the district to cancel all in-person and virtual learning, according to the message from Roche.

            Administrators have no way to determine which requests were due to the side effects related to the vaccinations. However, Gum suggested, "It's safe to assume many of them were from vaccinations." Sick day submissions do not include symptoms, according to an email message received March 19.

            Administrators are working on a revised schedule that would maintain graduation on Thursday, June 10 and the last student day as Friday, June 11, according to Gum. A revised schedule will be presented at Thursday's school board workshop meeting.