On Wednesday, October 5 through Friday, October 7, bus-riding students were given an excused absence from school.  Over two hundred Greenville county school buses evacuated citizens from Charleston due to Hurricane Matthew, a category four hurricane that hit the east coast, affecting Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

On Tuesday, October 4, Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, issued the evacuation of Charleston, Beaufort, Georgetown, Horry, and many other low-country areas.  The next morning, the school buses headed to Charleston to evacuate residents to escape the hurricane.

Once there, the severity of the situation hit.  As the hurricane grew worse, Nikki Haley decided to keep the buses there longer than expected. “The majority of the Greenville County Schools’ bus fleet and its drivers have not yet been released by South Carolina Emergency Management officials.  The buses are in Charleston County and on stand-by to transport last minute evacuees,” sent Burke Royster, superintendent of Greenville County Schools, to TRHS staff Friday morning.

The school issued excused absences the rest of the week for all bus riders who couldn’t access other modes of transportation.  “I couldn’t come to school because I wasn’t able to get a ride home.  My mom works late and she wouldn’t have been able to pick me up,” said junior Austin Yanes, who ended up being absent Wednesday through Friday. On Wednesday, there were 149 bus riders excused from school, on Thursday there were 135, and on Friday there were  165 bus riders absent.  These bus riders were able to make up all of their work as they returned on Monday.