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-kindergarten 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.
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.