Texas school bus crash: Hays CISD superintendent speaks on deadly crash

HAYS COUNTY, Texas - The Hays CISD community is mourning the loss of a 5-year-old student who was killed in a major crash in Bastrop County on Friday, March 22.

On Monday, Central Texas school districts showed their support for Tom Green Elementary School in the wake of the crash. They were asked to wear green in support of the Tom Green Horns.

"We just wanted the campus at Tom Green to know that they are not alone and that we as a school district, and even neighboring school districts, have opted to wear green today just in support of the Tom Green Horns," said Hays CISD Superintendent Eric Wright.

Five-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya loved the color green, his family, dinosaurs and going to school, his family said, who Wright says he reached out to.

"We hugged, and we prayed and cried together, and I just wanted to be there for healing and support and make sure they had what they needed, the best way we could support from the school district side," said Wright.

MORE STORIES:

• Texas school bus crash: Hays CISD identifies preschooler killed
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• Texas school bus crash: District says bus did not have seatbelts
• Texas school bus crash: 1 boy, 1 man killed in Bastrop County crash; 53 people evaluated

According to the Hays CISD, an early childhood education teacher is still hospitalized following the crash, and the bus driver is still recovering mentally and physically. All students who were taken to the hospital have been released.

"We don’t have the official investigation yet, but there was a concrete truck that went over the yellow line and hit our bus, and she was able to take an evasive right and keep the bus from being hit squarely, and I think she saved all the rest of the lives as a result of her driving ability," says Wright.

The district also identified the man killed in the crash. He was identified as 33-year-old Ryan Wallace.

"The Texas Department of Public Safety released the name today of the driver of the car behind our bus who was also killed in the accident. DPS has identified him as Ryan Wallace, age 33, from Bastrop. Though he was not part of the field trip or affiliated with our school district, we want to extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones," the district said.

The district says there were no seat belts on the 2011 model bus. It began purchasing buses with seat belts in 2017, when the state law changed.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses weighing less than 10,000 pounds should have seat belts. The state of Texas is allowed to decide whether they are required.

"We haven't gotten the investigation report yet from DPS, so we will wait on that to see if seat belts would have made a difference. But we are planning on accelerating our timeline to make sure that all of our buses in the future will have seat belts. We have 21 new buses coming in 3 weeks, so all of our route buses will be equipped in 3 weeks with seat belts," says Wright.

The district says there are scripts in place to inform students about the deadly crash and grieving counselors will be available.

"We have emotional support animals, we have experts in the field, and we are inviting parents and children and staff members and community members to come by and utilize those experts because a lot of times we don't know what we don't know, and we don't know how to move forward without the help of others," says Wright.

How people can help

A former Tom Green Elementary teacher has set up a GoFundMe account. The money raised will be used to help students and staff with expenses related to healing, off-setting funeral expenses for the student who passed away, and other unexpected expenses incurred by families affected by the crash. To help, click here.

The family of Ulises Montoya has set up a GoFundMe specifically for his funeral expenses and other needs of the family. To help, click here.