Milan Area Schools will be holding a community meeting at 7 p.m. tonight to address the death of a student — the third death of a Milan High School student in three months.

The meeting will be held in the Milan High School Theater, 200 Big Red Drive.

Superintendent Bryan Girbach wrote in a letter posted on the district’s website that school officials learned late Sunday of Milan High School senior Eric Harrison’s death, and activated crisis response teams in the district. Harrison committed suicide, officials said, but no additional information was released.

The meeting will discuss the students' deaths, how the district has responded and services it is providing for grieving students and staff, Girbach wrote.

Harrison’s death is the third in the district in the past three months and the second caused by suicide, Girbach said.

In November, the district also held a community forum after Milan High School senior Brian Copaciu, 18, committed suicide.

“Grief due to suicide is different from grief due to death by natural causes,” he said in the letter to the community. “The district has responded to each death very carefully and has provided early crisis intervention and grief counseling services to our students and staff.”

The district, local law enforcement agencies and the Traumatic Events Response Network of Washtenaw County will be present and will provide information at the meeting, Girbach said.

Girbach said classroom teachers announced the death to the student body this morning. Several local ministers were available to students and staff who wished to speak with them, and students who have requested support have received assistance individually and in small group settings, he said.

Harrison was a member of the Milan High School varsity basketball team. Saline High School’s athletic department announced on its Facebook and Twitter pages that the school’s varsity and junior varsity basketball games against Milan scheduled for Tuesday were canceled due to a tragedy with the Milan basketball team and would be rescheduled.

The district has provided further information and resources about suicide and grief on its website.

Girbach encouraged parents to talk to their children about the incident.

“Allow them to express their feelings and concerns,” he said. “Reaffirm your love for them, and reassure them that you are willing to listen to their fears and problems.”

Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com.