The Duval County school district has received a federally funded grant that will allow it to partner with Teach For America to recruit nearly 300 new teachers to work in district schools over the next three years.

Teach for America puts people with college degrees in fields other than education through a teaching boot camp. Once through the program, they are asked to work for two years in schools that serve predominantly low-income students.

Since 2008, the program has partnered with the district to bring in about 50 new teachers each year.

A $3.3 million grant, received in November, will allow the school district to substantially expand the number of teachers it gets through the program.

On Tuesday, the School Board unanimously approved the hiring of a recruitment supervisor to handle the grant and work with Teach For America to bring in people whose careers were not previously in education. The salary range for the supervisor will be $49,111 to $89,528 and is funded from the grant.

School Board Chairwoman Betty Burney said Tuesday the novice teachers will need monitoring and support. Burney and board member Paula Wright dissented last year when the panel in a 5-2 vote approved the contract partnering with Teach For America.

“I always have concerns about wherever novice teachers are placed,” Burney said. “As a board, we are going to make sure the superintendent is monitoring the teachers and making sure they get the assistance and support they need.”

Although the Teach For America teachers will be trained prior to being placed in Duval schools, they, like all new teachers, need guidance from experienced teachers and administrators, Burney said.

“We also want to make sure the students receive the support that they need because the children is what it’s all about,” she said.

Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals described Teach For America as a great resource for the school district.

“I think we’ll be judicious in how the district assigns those teachers,” Pratt-Dannals said. “We’ll be looking at a good blend of high-quality experienced teachers and high-quality novice teachers in our schools.”

Teach For America teachers now work in 24 Duval schools, said Laura Weiss, development director for the organization in Jacksonville.

Weiss expects up to 100 teachers to arrive in August to begin work in district schools. Organization officials hope to keep working in the 24 schools, but the teachers must go through a competitive process with the principal and district officials making the final assignments, Weiss said.