Christie to tout after-school dinner in Camden

CAMDEN FLOW Gov. Christie is scheduled to stop in the city Thursday afternoon to meet with students at Dudley Elementary who are benefiting from an after-school dinner pilot program launched this month.

The governor, who put the Camden School District under state control last year, touted the work of state-appointed Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard in his State of the State speech last week. Rouhanifard was one of a several Camden leaders Christie tipped his hat to in the address.

In Camden, 95 percent of the district's 15,000 students qualify for free or reduced lunches.

The dinner program, like breakfast and lunches, is provided in a partnership with Aramark and is offered at five elementary schools and Camden High School to about 75 to 100 students at each school each day, a district official said.

In an annual report to the Department of Education, Rouhanifard mentioned the program along with the growth of a breakfast program in two schools.

Newark schools also provide meals for students in an after-school youth development program, according to the district website.

An official with the district did not have immediate figures on how after-school attendance has grown since the program launched. "Anything that helps these kids smooth the speed bumps of their life improves their chance of preparing for success in life," said Joseph Durkin, a chemistry teacher at Woodrow Wilson High, which does not yet have the program.

It was just three years ago that Christie cut the entire $2 million allocation for grants for after-school and summer activities for at-risk children and a $3 million allocation for the New Jersey After 3 after-school program from the state budget.

In October, Christie appeared in Camden with Shaquille O'Neal to announce an initiative called Just Play, in which $500,000 in state funds would be distributed to nonprofits to establish after-school programs.

yJulia Terruso, www.inquirer.com/camdenflow