The Goffstown High School honors program will still consist of after-school seminars, but the teachers will now get paid for the instruction.

That was the decision of the Goffstown School Board members, who voted Nov. 6 to create six positions with stipends for honors instructors.

The stipend positions will pay $1,400 each for ninth- and 10th-grade English, social studies and science course.

“This program will be a seminar approach, taking place outside of the classroom,” said Superintendent of Schools Darrell Lockwood. “It will be individual students doing individual projects.”

While this will mark the first time teachers will get paid for teaching honors seminars, the stipend will not equal teachers’ pay for teaching a full class, Lockwood said.

“This is nowhere near what a teacher who takes on an extra class gets paid,” Lockwood said. Board member Scott Gross said he approved of the new positions for the coming school year because the district has not outlined plans for an honors program in the future.

“I think we should go ahead with the stipends this year, because beyond that there’s nothing,” Gross said.

The structure of the honors courses has yet to be finalized, Lockwood said. District officials are considering a variety of sources in constructing an honors program, including the Bedford School District’s consideration of an advanced placement program in its new high school.

A report from the Bedford High School Curriculum Research Committee said community response to an advanced placement concept had been tepid thus far.

“Commentary on Advanced Placement courses as a specific option for advanced work was mixed, with a few participants feeling that AP was overrated (in the sense of not being a genuine substitute for college-level work), but a few others expressing the concern that the familiar AP name could be important for college admissions,” according to the Bedford report.

Several parents who attended the Goffstown meeting spoke of the importance of an honors program, and said that program should be implemented into the classroom curriculum.

Peter Osiecki said his daughter is an honors student at Mountain View Middle School, and he wanted her to continue in an honors program at the high school.

A record of honors education could help students in applying to colleges and universities, Osiecki said.

However, honors make their way into the high school curriculum, he said.

“There’s a lot of rigors placed on students in honors classes, and I think students would like to do that work in the classroom,” Osiecki said.

Resident Martha Hart said her son had taken an honors seminar at the high school in the past, which had been taught by a high school senior.

“My son’s work was never evaluated,” Hart said, adding any future honors program should be more structured.

The board passed the six stipend positions 7-1, with board member Sara Ann Sarette voting against.

Board Vice Chairman Ellen Vermokowitz requested detailed information on an honors program from district administrators before the system goes into effect.

“I would want data and research from the administration and not just have it be seeing who could get 5 million people to show up for a seminar,” Vermokowitz said.