2 dead, more than 50 people involved in school bus rollover crash, officials say

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A Hays Consolidated Independent School District bus carrying Tom Green Elementary pre-K students was involved in a serious crash Friday, resulting in at least two deaths, according to officials.

One of the deaths was a child on the bus, and the other was a man from a vehicle traveling behind the bus, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The crash happened between the bus and a concrete truck near Mustang Ridge, the Texas DPS told KXAN. Officials said it appeared the concrete truck veered into the lane of the school bus on SH 21 near Caldwell Road.

RELATED: Site of fatal school bus crash had prior accidents, safety concerns

DPS was unable to confirm if the concrete truck driver would face charges.

According to DPS, its State Crash Reconstruction Team arrived on the scene and initiated an investigation into the incident.

ATCEMS said it evaluated a total of 53 people involved in the incident. Four of the people were in critical condition and transported by helicopter, six people were taken to the hospital in ambulances with potentially serious injuries. Others were transported by other agencies as well, medics said.

In a news release from Hays CISD, the district said the students were returning from a field trip to the Bastrop Zoo. A total of 44 students and 11 adults were on the bus.

The district said parents of students who were on the bus were “notified directly from the campus.”

On Friday afternoon, the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office said on social media SH 21 was shut down due to the crash.

Around 4:30 p.m., medics said all patients who required transport were taken from the scene.

A letter to parents from Tom Green Elementary School principal Jennifer Hanna on Saturday said three school staff members and two students were still hospitalized. The letter said two of the adults will have “extensive recoveries ahead” while another could be released soon. It said the two students remain in the hospital “primarily for observation prior to their anticipated releases in the near future.”

Hanna said school Monday is canceled but will be open if students choose to go in for counseling. There will be counselors available from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

“In the days and weeks ahead, we will face a long road of healing and recovery,” Hanna said in the letter. “Let us come together to provide comfort and solace to one another, offering a shoulder to lean on and listening ear for those who need it most.”

The Community Leadership Team at Tom Green Elementary set up a GoFundMe account for those interested in helping with costs associated with the crash. As of Saturday, it has raised about $34,000 toward its $50,000 goal.

Read Hanna’s letter in full hereDownload

‘I am heartbroken’

Hays CISD Superintendent Eric Wright said in an email to parents that he was “heartbroken as I write this email.”

One of the people killed was a “precious young boy,” a pre-K student at the elementary school.

“There are no words that can express my sorrow for the student’s family, the Tom Green Elementary School family, and our greater Hays CISD community. I am also saddened to learn of the death of a person who was driving a car that was on the road behind our bus,” Wright said in the email.

Furthermore, he said the reunification process was completed at 6:45 p.m.

“Our teachers and school staff have all been commendable and professional in their efforts to help everyone affected by today’s unspeakable event,” Wright said.

He also thanked the driver of the bus. Even though she was injured, he said she “insisted medical personnel tend to the children first.” The parents on the bus also focused their attention on the children “despite their injuries.”

“I wish I could end this correspondence by saying that everything will be alright. For most of us, it eventually will. But, there are grieving families tonight who will never know life again as it was before. Let us continue to focus on them in our hearts and in our prayers,” Wright said.

PAST COVERAGE: Top priority safety improvements on SH 21 still years away

Site of fatal school bus crash had prior accidents, safety concerns

The site of the fatal crash had nearly 130 crashes since the start of 2022, according to data from the Texas Department of Transportation.

KXAN has reported on safety concerns with State Highway 21 before. In 2017, we found eight deaths and more than 400 crashes over a six-year period — just a few miles west of where Friday’s deadly bus accident occurred. At the time, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) officials said they would widen the road, lower the speed limit and add stop lights.

KXAN Investigates analyzed data from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System, collected from the 7.5-mile stretch of State Highway 21 between State Highway 130 and Farm-to-Market 812, from Jan. 1, 2022, until Friday, March 22. We found:

• At least 128 crashes on this stretch of SH 21.

• In four of the accidents, someone died.

• Five crashes involved buses.

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