The Clark County School Board of Trustees reversed a controversial decision Thursday night and narrowly approved renewing the district’s contract with the Teach For America program.

Trustees voted 4-3 to keep the program, which places recent college graduates in at-risk schools nationwide, and accept the added cost that comes with it. Trustee Linda Cavazos cast the swing vote, after voting against the contract renewal two weeks ago and then requesting an agenda item to reconsider that decision.

The move allows the district to hire up to 125 TFA teachers for hard-to-fill positions. It also means paying the program $1,500 per teacher for the first year of employment and $2,500 during the second year.

Trustees Linda Young, Chris Garvey and Kevin Child voted against continuing the program — just as they did April 26 when the matter was originally before the board. Their concerns boiled down to longevity of TFA teachers, the district’s current budget woes and its need to be more innovative about fixing the teacher shortage.

“We’ve got to change the trajectory of this,” Young said, referring to yearly teacher shortages. “This isn’t getting any better. We can’t depend exclusively on TFA.”

The matter drew passionate public commentary during the meeting from people on both sides of the fence: Principals championed the program as a way to put teachers in classrooms as opposed to relying on long-term substitutes, while several non-TFA teachers said the program is a “Band-Aid” solution that doesn’t address underlying retention issues.

Teachers hired through the program commit to working in the school district for two years and receive the same salary and benefits extended to any entry-level teacher. The retention rate of TFA teachers beyond the two-year mark varies year to year. School officials said 152 teachers are currently part of the TFA program and another 260 alumni still work for the district.

Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky said existing teachers would not be displaced by approving the TFA contract because the district only hires teachers through the program if there are openings. He repeatedly told trustees there will be teacher vacancies — even after another likely round of surplusing related to the recent $68 million deficit.

Skorkowsky then implored trustees to save the program, which he views as a vital teacher pipeline, especially for children in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

“A no vote is truly questioning whether or not we as a district are going to support our most challenged students,” he said. “Students do not have four or five years to wait. We need teachers in the classrooms now.”

Cavazos said TFA isn’t a “perfect solution” because the district needs to figure out how to do a better job recruiting — and then retaining — teachers. The latter, she said, might come down to the issue on so many educators’ minds: money.

“I think it’s because we don’t pay our teachers enough,” she said.

The comment triggered boisterous applause from teachers sitting in the audience.