Past and present students, led by Juan Pena and Theresa Agonia, held a vigil for fired teachers and staff in front of the Central Falls High School. For video of the rally go to projo.com.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

CENTRAL FALLS — A group of current and former Central Falls High School students held a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening in honor of the 93 teachers, support staff and administrators who have been fired, effective at the end of the year.

About 40 students clustered on the stairs leading to the school’s front door, pausing to hug several teachers as they passed by.

“All the teachers here have been a big part of my life,” said Priscilla Villa, 18, now a freshman at Salve Regina University. “The teachers here inspired me to go to college.”

Junior Sheyla Gabriel, 17, said it is unfair to place the blame of the school’s poor performance on the teachers.

“They help us with everything,” said Sheyla. “Kids also have part of the responsibility for low test scores.”

Teachers said they were heartened by the show of support.

“It makes me feel good because I’m also a graduate of Central Falls High School. I feel kinship,” said Deloris Grant, an English and drama teacher. “This is a wonderful way to end my day.”

The students planned their vigil to take place before the school Board of Trustees’ meeting.

But late in the afternoon, School Supt. Frances Gallo canceled the meeting, saying she had just received word from the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities that the site “did not meet legal standards for open-meeting accessibility.”

The students who organized the event said teachers at the high school willingly stay after school to help students with homework, college applications and art projects.

“In 2009, we lost Michael Occhi,” said Theresa Agonia, a 2009 graduate, referring to the death of a beloved English teacher. Occhi died after a hit-and-run accident.

“We had a vigil at midnight, and we all wore black, and we were silent and paid our respects to him, and that’s what we did when we lost one faculty member,” said Agonia, now a student at Roger Williams University.

The Board of Trustees approved the mass firings Feb. 23 after talks broke down between Gallo and teacher union leaders concerning the best way to improve the 800-student school, which has some of the lowest test scores and lowest graduation rate in the state. Under the model approved by the trustees, no more than 50 percent of the teachers can be rehired.

Gallo and union leaders have said recently that they would like to reach an agreement. At 10 a.m. Thursday, the two sides will join a group of education and community leaders in a planning session about how to fix the struggling school at URI’s Providence campus.

jjordan@projo.com