HAYS COUNTY, Texas — Hays Consolidated Independent School District students head back to the classroom on Tuesday.
Just months after a deadly crash involving a Hays CISD school bus and a concrete pumper truck, KVUE was able to meet with district transportation leaders to learn what they're doing to comfort students and parents who might still be uneasy about riding the bus.
"Well, this new school year, we're still healing and healing is different for different people," Tim Savoy, a spokesperson with the district, said.
In March, the district was left to recover following a deadly crash along El Camino Real Highway in Bastrop County. A Hays CISD school bus coming home from a field trip was struck by a concrete pumper truck when the truck driver veered into the wrong lane and crashed into the bus. A 5-year-old student who was on the bus and a Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin, who was driving behind the bus, were both killed in the crash.
The district has worked all summer to implement a wide range of changes for students riding the bus this school year.
"I think that, as a bus driver, we can make a huge impact on our students as well. We have that opportunity to see them every morning and afternoon as they're going home, or that first smile that greets them and can kind of set the tone for their day," said Cassandra Behr, Hays CISD's director of transportation, who has more than 20 years of experience getting children to school.
One of the district's new changes is retrofitting 13 buses to have seat belts. The district is also preparing for new buses coming in while phasing out the older models.
"We have 10 coming in the next month and a half that we ordered last August, and then we ordered 30 buses at the end of last school year," Behr said.
Inside the transportation center in Uhland, hundreds of bright yellow stickers are being printed out of machines. They read "buddy" and "cuate" – meaning "the seat belt is your friend."
Savoy said it's all part of the district's new seat belt campaign.
"We still don't know if a seat belt would have made a difference, but our community said, 'We want seat belts on all of our buses.' That was in the process, but we accelerated the process so that we could get them at the soonest possible moment," Savoy said.
After the March bus crash, if any students are struggling with fear or uneasiness about riding the bus, there's also a new way bus drivers can notify school leaders to get help.
"With our smart tech system that's on our buses, there's a way to make a wellness note for our staff to pass them along to the school counselors and have them reach out to those students," Behr said.
If any students or parents need bus help this week or have any questions, the district has a call center set up to take notes and reach back out as quickly as possible. Those in need of help can call 512-268-8476.