U.S. Secretary of Education Comes to North Camden

Cardona and other educators stressed the importance of getting students back to school in person and the role federal money provided through the American Rescue Plan will play in that.

Katrina McCombs, the superintendent of the Camden City School District, was happy with the way these ARP funds were distributed.

“We are so grateful they were distributed in equitable ways so that communities that need more funds got more funds,” she said.

McCombs said that things were looking up for the district before the pandemic and that these funds would help it stay on that trajectory.

“We want to wrap our students with the supports that are needed – socially and emotionally, academically, anywhere we can – because we know how far we’ve come and we want to keep moving forward,” she said.

Naeha Dean, the executive director of the Camden Education Fund, believes this ARP funding will be “transformational” for Camden’s schools, naming investments in academic enrichment, co-teaching, mental health supports and facilities as examples of how schools plan to use the money.