"Maybe parents aren’t ready," said Maribeth Calabro, president of the Providence Teachers Union, which hosted the meeting. But she said the union will host another meeting in the coming weeks.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Teachers, school social workers, local religious leaders and other community members gathered Monday night at Providence Career and Technical Academy to offer support and resources to families in the wake of the shooting of 15-year-old William Parsons earlier this month.

The meeting, hosted by the Providence Teachers Union, was intended to guide parents and other members of the school community on how to help their students and kids deal with the trauma of Parsons’ death.

Parsons, a student at Central High School, was shot in front of the Providence Career and Technical Academy on Sept. 5. Some students witnessed the shooting and others saw videos that circulated on social media. The suspect in Parsons’ murder, a 16-year-old from Providence, is being held at the Rhode Island Training School.

"We wanted to provide resources, a place to come and have a conversation about what happened, a place to ask questions, a place to feel safe," said Maribeth Calabro, president of the Providence Teachers Union.

As of 7 p.m., no parents had arrived at the meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

"Maybe parents aren’t ready," Calabro said. But she said the union will host another meeting in the coming weeks. (At least in the case of Classical High School, parents were notified of Monday's meeting by automated phone message two hours before the event.)

"We’ll do anything we can to let parents know we’re here," she said.

Katherine Culpepper, a school counselor at E-Cubed Academy in Providence, said that since the shooting, kids have not been as lively or active as they usually are at the beginning of a school year.

"I think a lot of them are just kind of shut down," she said.

But she, and Providence Public Schools social worker Lucy Espinal, encouraged kids to talk about what happened with a trusted adult.

"Talking about it relieves your thoughts," Espinal said. "Some kids are artistic. If that’s the way you want to let it out, use your art. Talk to adults in your life."

Calabro said schools need more resources so that every school can have full-time psychologists, socialists and certified nurses. Many schools only staff these positions on a part-time basis, she said.

"Kids in crisis don’t wait until the person’s there," she said.