A small Texas community is mourning after a tragic train accident claimed the lives of two Clyde High School students on Sunday. The victims were identified as Brileigh and Kyler Dailey, a loss that has sent waves of grief through Clyde ISD, families, classmates, and residents who knew the students and their family.

Bryan Allen, Superintendent of Clyde Consolidated Independent School District, said the news was devastating. Speaking with KTXS, Allen described the moment he learned about the crash. “All I could think was, ‘please let this not be one of our kids,’” he said. “It didn’t even run through my mind that it could have been two of them.” Allen said the tragedy has deeply affected the entire community.

Allen said he immediately drove to the scene after receiving the call. What he encountered was heartbreaking. “When you pull up on that scene, it’s devastating,” he said. “We already had staff members there, and they’re in tears, kids are in tears. It’s just a horrible, horrible sight. It’s the last thing you ever want to hear or see.” He added that the pain is being felt across the district.

As students and staff return to school, Clyde CISD is focused on providing emotional support. Allen said grief counselors have been made available on campuses to help both students and staff process the loss. He emphasized that caring for educators is just as important. “Our staff can’t support the students if they’re not supporting themselves,” Allen said. Therapy dogs were also brought in to help provide comfort during an extremely difficult time.

The district is also discussing plans to honor Brileigh and Kyler. Allen said Clyde CISD hopes to hold some form of memorial, but timing will depend on the family’s arrangements. “We don’t know when the services are going to be yet,” he said. “We will probably do something around that, to make sure we don’t clash or overlap.”

Despite the heartbreak, Allen said the response from the community has been overwhelming. “Thank you so much to everybody for the outpouring of support,” he said. “Everything that our community and surrounding communities have done and offered, it goes a long way.” As Clyde mourns the loss of two young lives, district leaders say they remain committed to standing beside students, staff, and families as they begin the long process of healing together.