Hays CISD speeds up bus replacement, identifies student who died in Friday crash

The district identified the child as Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, adding that he loved his family, dinosaurs, the color green, and going to school.

“Ulises was a child who was filled with a lot of happiness and he often shared it with others,” said Naira (Dina) Solís Shears, his pre-K bilingual teacher from Tom Green Elementary. “He had a talent for drawing and his favorite thing to draw was dinosaurs. He could almost completely spell the word dinosaur, which demonstrates how smart he was. He always had a dinosaur drawn on all of the assignments he turned in. He liked to tell stories and shared many with his friends and family. Above all — he was a loving child.”

Ulises was the only one on the bus who died. Austin-Travis County EMS said Friday it checked out a total of 53 people who were hurt, many of them children who were returning from a field trip at the Capital of Texas Zoo in Bastrop County.

The other person who died was later identified Monday as Ryan Wallace, 33, of Bastrop, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Wallace was a student at the University of Texas Austin School of Journalism and Media, a spokesperson for UT confirmed to KXAN Monday night.

"It went from being their best day at the zoo, to probably the worst day of their lives," Hays CISD Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright said. "I've been in this business 36 years now — 20 as a superintendent — and I've never lost a kid until now."

On Friday, the Texas Department of Public Safety said it appeared the concrete truck veered into the school bus' lane while they were on State Highway 21 near Caldwell Road. It is still investigating the collision.

Hays CISD canceled classes Monday and instead provided counseling for students and staff from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Getting more buses with seatbelts

On Monday, Wright told KXAN he met with Ulises' family, and the bus driver who he said did everything she could to help.

"She told me when the bus finally stopped rolling ... she woke up to a little hand on her shoulder, and the young man asked her if he was going to die," Wright said. "She told him, 'No you're not,' and she said, 'Give me some help, so I can get out of here and can help you guys.'"

The bus Ulises was on didn't have seatbelts. According to Hays CISD, there are about 40 others in its fleet that don't.

"We are supposed to get our next round of buses in 3-4 weeks that all are equipped with seat belts that will make it where our entire fleet of route buses all have seatbelts," Wright said. "Then we're going to accelerate with our Facilities and Bond Oversight Committee with the blessing of our School Board, to go out to replace our spare buses with buses that all have seat belts."

"I'm a man of Christian faith," Wright said. "I believe that our faith will help us."