The state's seven most imperiled charter schools may have another shot at survival. At a last-minute meeting yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee resuscitated a charter school funding bill it rejected the day before, amending it to give each of the seven schools an additional $1 per student.

The move was an attempt to give lawmakers one last crack at figuring out how to fund the state's charter schools. Senators said they suspect the bill will end up in a committee of conference, where lawmakers from the House and Senate will try to craft a compromise.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, an Exeter Democrat, sponsored the eleventh-hour amendment. In the midst of describing it to the committee, she turned to the half-full room of eager charter school advocates and explained that the Legislature sometimes funds things with $1 "so we can keep working on an idea."

Financial troubles threaten the seven charter schools named in the bill - Franklin Career Academy, Strong Foundations Charter School in Pembroke, Seacoast Charter School in Exeter, Cocheco Arts and Technology Academy in Barrington, Surry Village Charter School, the Academy for Science and Design in Merrimack, and the New Hampshire Equestrian Academy in Rochester. The state's five other charter schools are more fiscally sound.

To stay open next year, the seven schools need more than the $3,800 per student in state aid they're slated to receive. A bill that would give them $6,500 per student was voted down 6-1 Monday by the committee, which also killed five amendments aimed at finding a more palatable way to pay for the schools.

Several senators said the original bill's $1.5 million price tag was too much, especially in a year when Gov. John Lynch has said he won't support any new spending outside the current state budget.

After Monday's vote, it looked as if the schools might close. But Senate President Sylvia Larsen, who sits on the committee, said she and other lawmakers soon began thinking about ways to prevent that.

"It was quite clear we don't have the money," Larsen said yesterday of the $1.5 million proposal. "But when we were done voting, it was clear we hadn't left an option for charter schools to continue."

Hassan said she and other senators spoke yesterday morning with state Education Commissioner Lyonel Tracy. Hassan said Tracy implored lawmakers to help save the at-risk charter schools.

Sens. Lou D'Allesandro, a Manchester Democrat, and Bob Odell, a Lempster Republican, voted against the amendment to give the schools $1 per student. Both lawmakers said afterward that they oppose trying to find extra money for charter schools when faced with such a tight state budget.

"Even though it starts at a dollar, it might end up somewhere else," Odell said.

Still, charter school advocates were elated at the result. "We're still alive," said Bill Wilmot, head of the Seacoast Charter School and an outspoken advocate. "It's a good sign they want to take a look at it."

The seven schools, which have a combined enrollment of about 300 students this year, would need between $7,000 and $8,000 per student next year to operate, Wilmot said. The other five charter schools are either partially financially supported by a local school district or have much lower costs.

The full Senate will vote tomorrow on the bill as amended. If it's sent to a committee of conference, the committee would be formed no later than May 21 and have until June 5 to come up with a solution.