Mountains Landscape

Federal Programs

Point Of Contact

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Robyn Chaney
Federal Programs & Migrant Education
Robyn Chaney

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Rebekah Fonkert
Federal Programs
Rebekah Fonkert

Dillingham City School District Federal Programs Department provides services and support to students and staff through Title IA (Low Income), Title IIA (Teacher and Principal Training), Title IC (Migrant Education), Title VI (Indian Education), Federal SPED funding, Johnson O’Malley, and other grant funding.

The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) emphasizes equal access to education to ensure that every student succeeds. Dillingham City School District Federal programs provide supplemental support to eligible schools and districts to raise the academic achievement of struggling learners and address the complex challenges that arise among students who live with disability, mobility problems, learning difficulties, poverty, transience and the need to learn English as a second language.

To learn more about Federal Programs and to connect to resources, please contact Robyn Chaney, Federal Programs Coordinator, at (907) 842-6779 or Robyn Chaney

Traditional Alaskan Transition Skills Curriculum

The Governor’s Council on Disabilities and Special Education (GCDSE), through the initiative, planning, and guidance of its Rural Transitions Workgroup; and with the help of its DD Act partner, the UAA Center for Human Development (CHD) has published this Introduction and first two units of Rural and Traditional Alaska Transitions Curriculum. These first two units, “Set-Netting” and “Cold Water Safety,” were written by Rain Van Den Berg and Robyn Chaney, with funding by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority and the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. More units, by other authors and based in other regions are forthcoming.

The GCDSE thanks our amazing first authors, who have set a high bar for the rest of the curriculum; the Dillingham City School District, for giving the project its first home and providing our contractor with staff advisors and other community contributors; our agency contributors to the early work on this project, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the network of Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation offices, and the Alaska Council on the Arts.

​Special thanks is given to the following people, whose contributions to the first two units of the Rural and Traditional Transitions Curriculum made it possible: Judy Samuelsen, William Chaney, Triston Chaney, Dillon Chaney, Kelly McBride, Joetta Wolff, and Teresa Bunsen, Nova Chaney, and Graelin Chaney.

​If you have trouble accessing the information on this page because of a disability, please contact Lindsay Henry (Human Resources Director) at Lindsay Henry or 907-842-5223. To request a reasonable accommodation, please contact the state ADA Coordinator (907-375-7716) or utilize the TTY number 711 for Alaska Relay or 1-800-770-8973.

Title I-A

This grant targets low-achieving students in high poverty schools (schools whose poverty rate is greater than 35%).  The purpose is to provide programs, materials, and/or professional development designed to improve learning and assist below and far-below proficient students meet proficiency levels on state performance standards testing.

  • Response to Intervention supports for all students and staff

  • Reading Specialist at the Elementary

  • Counseling for MS/HS

  • Elementary, Middle School and High School Summer School

  • Transportation for students in need

Title I-C Migrant Education

Migrant funds are used to meet the identified needs of migrant children that result from their migratory lifestyle, and to permit these children to participate effectively in school. Migrant funds are to supplement services provided by other Federal, State, or local funds.  A “migrant child” is a child under the age of 20 (22 with an IEP) who has moved due to an economic necessity on their own, with or to join a parent/guardian or spouse, across Dillingham City School District (or more than 20 miles in a school district of more than 15,000 square miles) within the last 36 months to obtain or seek work that is seasonal or temporary in a fishing, logging or agricultural activity.   Dillingham City School District migrant student move primarily to subsistence and commercial fish, though some move to pick berries.

  • Language Arts & Reading Intervention at the Elementary

  • Counseling at the MS/HS

  • Technology support

Migrant Book Program

The purpose of this grant is to purchase books and literature for distribution to eligible Migrant Students in the District and optionally for the implementation of literacy activities by a certified teacher.

  • Preschool students enrolled in Dillingham Imagination Library

  • Literacy activities at DIL events

  • Credit at the Elementary Book Fair for Elementary Migrant Students

  • Magazine subscriptions for MS/HS students

Jom (Johnson O’malley)

This grant flows through the Curyung Tribal Council.  The Johnson-O’Malley Act of 1934 became law in order to subsidize education, medical services, and other social services for American Indians. Today, JOM funding (25 CFR Part 273) is used for programs designed to meet the specialized and unique educational needs of eligible Indian students.

  • Yup’ik Dance

  • Junior Native Youth Olympics

  • Culturally Appropriate Professional Development for staff

  • Alaska Federation of Natives Elders & Youth Conference

  • Native Youth Olympics

  • Bilingual/Bicultural support

  • Math in a Cultural Context curricula and support

  • Laptop Fee forgiveness

Title VII Indian Education

This provides supplementary programs to meet the needs of Alaska Native and American Indian students so that they can achieve at the same state performance standards expected of all students.  This program focuses on the goal of ensuring that programs that serve Alaska Native/American Indian students are of the highest quality and provide for not only the basic elementary and secondary educational needs, but also unique culturally related academic needs.

  • Reading Specialist at the Elementary

  • Counseling at the MS/HS

  • Core subject tutoring intensives at the High School

  • Technology support

  • Culturally relevant literature

Dpac (Dillingham Parent Advisory Committee)

The Dillingham Parent Advisory Committee is the governing body for Federal Programs.  It is a committee comprised of five parents of Title IA, Migrant, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Tribally enrolled students, a teacher and a student representative.  DPAC meets quarterly and has an Annual Meeting once a year to review all programs.