With only one week left until a Cambridge School Committee vote to close two elementary schools and move five others, a dedicated group of nearly 100 parents protested at the committee’s meeting last night.

Most of the protesters have children at the Peabody School, which is slated to move into the closing Fitzgerald School’s building and absorb that school’s students this fall.

The plan—which follows a series of more than a half-dozen other school consolidation proposals released since last spring—comes in response to declining enrollment in the city’s elementary schools and a budget deficit of $3.8 million. A budget plan unveiled at last night’s meeting showed that closing and merging schools would save nearly $1.5 million.

Though many parents and city officials initially voiced strong opposition to the previous plans, the combination of the looming threat of budget cuts, aggravation after 10 months of discussion and a recent change in district leadership has muted the negative response.

And several committee members have said they will vote to adopt it.

But the plan has sparked increasing ire from Peabody School parents over the past two weeks.

About 40 of them protested yesterday morning in front of the Thorndike Street offices of the Cambridge Public Schools, and then returned later last night to speak directly to the committee. They have also planned what they hope will be a city-wide rally Sunday.

At last night’s meeting, some parents turned to more creative tactics—quoting Robert Frost and Alice in Wonderland, refusing to stop speaking when their time limits expired and reading names of dozens of parents who signed a petition against the proposal.

Parents said moving the school, which is one of the highest-performing schools in the city, would threaten the Peabody’s community without providing any educational benefits.

“How do you intend to use this community to improve academic standards when you intend to break us down?” said Peabody parent Serenella Sferza. “What can the Peabody so cherry-picked bring to the plan? Not very much I fear.”

“Moving and merging is like performing an organ transplant,” said Peabody parent Elena Saporta. “There’s always a risk of rejection. There’s always a chance the patient may never recover.”

Peabody parents vehemently criticized the lack of clear communication between officials and parents as merger plans were put on the table. They also accused the committee of reneging on its December decision not to close schools this fall.

“I wonder if you’ve become some sort of a cult, the followers of the cult of the plan,” said Peabody parent John Rutter. “This plan is musical chairs. The music stops and the Peabody School sits down somewhere. This is not a community effort. It’s more like ‘shut up and now get the hell out of the building.’”

Parents implored the committee to heed their protests.

“You should be terribly alarmed by the opposition from these parents,” said Peabody parent Patricia Nolan. “The opposition to the new plan is no less vehement and is broader than before.”