AUSTIN (KXAN) — Community fundraisers are collecting money to help the victims of a deadly crash on State Highway 21 involving a Hays Consolidated Independent School District bus.
Hays CISD said 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya died in the Friday crash. Montoya and his pre-K class were on a school bus returning from a zoo field trip. The driver of another vehicle also died in the crash.
A former Tom Green Elementary teacher created a GoFundMe fundraiser to help students and staff with expenses for healing, unexpected costs and the funeral for the boy who died, the district shared in an update.
As of Monday morning, people have donated over $70,000 to the fundraiser.
The boy’s family has also created a fundraiser to help cover funeral expenses. The GoFundMe has gathered over $47,000 in donations as of Monday morning.
“He was such a lovely child, was always happy and was just an innocent kid,” the fundraiser description reads. “He now leaves his family in so much pain, please help us to make this a little less stressful for them as they are very devastated at this time.”
The school district said memorial and funeral plans are pending for Montoya.
A University of Texas at Austin professor set up a fundraiser for UT doctoral candidate Ryan Wallace, who also died in the crash. Funds will be given to Wallace’s family. His vehicle was traveling behind the bus, according to law enforcement.
“As a family, we do not have the words to express the immense and tragic loss that we are feeling after an individual plowed through the heart of our family and upturned the homes of so many others with the passing of my brother and a young, innocent child on Highway 21 this past Friday,” his family said in part in a statement.
Another fundraiser was set up for Mrs. Serna, a pre-K teacher on the bus. The GoFundMe said Serna wanted to make sure her students were safe and helped students off the bus before medics examined her injuries.
“Mrs. Serna has 4 [broken] bones in her back and will be out of the classroom(work) for quite some time to allow her body to heal properly,” the GoFundMe reads.
Hays CISD said Tom Green Elementary classes were canceled for Monday with counseling services available for staff and students.
The district said two staff members and two students were still hospitalized as of Sunday evening.
There is another fundraiser for school bus driver, which her daughter set up. The GoFundMe said the driver is still recovering from her injuries.
“Any funds raised will go to help my mother’s daily expenses as well as medical bills/care and necessities that will continue to help her during her recovery,” the fundraiser reads.
