RALEIGH — Teachers, parents and students from East Wake High School urged the Wake County school board today to not eliminate its small-school concept.

East Wake High’s future is now uncertain with some school board members questioning whether the decision to split the campus into four separate schools has worked out. In response, more than 50 people came to today’s board meeting to urge that the program be given more time.

“I don’t give up on my students,” said Bill Burgess, an East Wake High teacher. “I don’t want the school board to give up on us. Please give us a chance to succeed.”

The school board could decide June 2 to discontinue the program after a five-year grant runs out at the end of the 2009-10 school year. School board member Lori Millberg, the harshest critic of the program, has said they should make a decision as soon as possible.

East Wake High and 10 other North Carolina high schools received an $11 million grant in 2004 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to split into smaller schools. The idea has been to make high schools more effective by making them more personal and relevant.

East Wake phased the program in over time with the first small school starting in August 2005. It wasn’t fully implemented until the 2007-08 school year.

It’s now split into the School of Engineering, the School of Global Studies and Creative Arts, the School of Health Science, and the School of Integrated Technology. Each school has around 400 students. But state test scores for East Wake have not increased. There have also been complaints that splitting up the campus has limited the number of advanced courses available.

Speaker after speaker today talked about how teachers and students are better able to build relationships now.

“We are the heart of our school,” said Nicole Dominick, an English teacher who stood with 13 other teachers. “We are in it because we love our kids. We love our kids so much because we’re a tight knit family.

Amber Hales, a senior at the School of Health Science, talked about how being at the school has turned her life around.

“When I am at school I feel like I’m with my real family,” Hales said. “It’s my comfort zone. The teachers don’t come in just to make a paycheck.”

Millberg, whose son attends East Wake High, admitted the turnout caught her off guard.

“I’m surprised to see so many people speaking in support,” Millberg said. “The only ones I’m hearing from are unhappy.”