Durham, Orange apologize for not canceling classes

This atellite image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Florence off the eastern coast of the United States on Thursday, (NOAA via AP)

DURHAM — Two North Carolina school systems are apologizing for scheduling classes after flooding made some roads impassable and one school bus was caught in a ditch near a flooded road.

News outlets report the Durham County and Orange County school systems issued the apology Monday. In Durham County, school officials said that while they made the best decision they could, they were sorry for “the difficulties that came from our decision to open school.”

Orange County Schools also apologized on its Facebook page after students were forced to wait for the bus in the rain, standing beside flooded roads. The statement said officials tried to make a decision to keep schools open using the best information it had at the time. “We got it wrong, and we apologize for that.”

Parents voiced their concerns on social media, spurred by a video which showed a bus plowing through floodwaters. Emergency officials were dispatched after a report that a school bus headed to an elementary school was caught on a flooded road in Durham.