FAIRBANKS — Last July, the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District was awarded

$16.9 million from the federal stimulus act to put toward student achievement. The single grant doubled the district’s grant budget and gave life to 33 projects ranging from new musical instruments for schools, professional development for teachers and a boost for math curricula to $2 million in new computers. To score the government funding, the school district first had spell out how it would be spent from day one through September 2011.

“You have to have a plan for every single dime,” said Traci Gatewood, director of grants and special projects for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. “Saying this is what you’re going to do and this is how it’s tied to our priorities.”

Gatewood has been the school district’s grant czar for five years. In a blazer splashed with blue and green flowers, her energy filled up her meticulously organized office last week. Her department, which employs two coordinators, oversees 25 active grants that fund programs like graduation specialists, special orientations for military students and teacher training. The annual budget averages between $13 million and $15 million. She arrives at work at 7 a.m. in order to get a head-start on the day’s meetings, technical assistance calls and calls to state and federal agencies.

“What I love is actually feeling like what I’m doing is making a difference,” Gatewood said. “A lot of things we do to support teachers and kids could not be done if we didn’t have this supplemental funding.”

Gatewood has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s in business organizational management and a background in nonprofits. Her husband, Bernard, serves on the Fairbanks City Council. Their daughter, Ashleigh, attends University of Alaska Anchorage and their son, Tye, attends Tanana Middle School.

At work, Gatewood is a liaison between students, teachers, community members and funding sources like the state and federal education departments.

“She really spearheaded our whole plan for managing the stimulus funds,” said Leslie Hajdukovich, school board president. “Knowing we have such a capable person keeping track of the details and the timelines and the requirements ... gives us huge confidence.”

The Obama administration has toughened transparency standards for grant spending, Gatewood said. The district must account for the dollars every step of the way, from the grant application through the final report and audit. Flexibility doesn’t exist in Gatewood’s world.

“With grants, unlike some sources of funding, you have to submit a plan with what you’re doing. You don’t deviate from that plan unless you get permission,” she said. “It’s a tradeoff ... because no one’s forcing the grant funds on you.”

She trains district employees who manage grant-funded programs to file grants, comply with terms and communicate with funders.

“The thing you don’t want to happen with a grant is for there to be any type of perception of mismanagement,” she said.

Writing an average grant — a 150-page document with annotated references — can take weeks.

“If you came into my office when I’m in the middle of writing a grant, you will find flip chart papers and charts and whiteboards and all types of things,” she said.

But the process begins before that with researching the availability of grants and connecting viable school projects with appropriate funding sources.

“We’re very careful about the grants we apply for,” she said.

The school district has about a 60 percent success rate getting competitive grants, which typically come from the state or federal education department.

“At the federal level, we’re not always successful because we’re competing against the New Yorks, the Detroits, the L.A.s, where they have not only a larger population but they have a greater need in terms of the Fed. If we could serve 100 students, they can serve 10,000 students,” she said.

While 99 percent of funds come from the education agencies, last year the district received a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to add extra programs for students from military families at five schools.

“Military students have unique challenges. It’s really allowing us to put in place some extra supports for them as they deal with changing schools and parents being deployed,” Gatewood said.

Gatewood must not only understand the grant market but also intimate details of school programs, in order to ensure compliance. So it’s no wonder her office is as organized as a Staples store.

“If someone walked in here and asked for anything, within a matter of seconds I can put my hand on it, whether it’s an electronic file or hard copy,” Gatewood said.

That’s just one reason Gatewood is easy to work with.

“It’s very clear with her, these are the rules and that’s what we follow. There’s no deviation,” said Gena Tran, who has worked under Gatewood for five years.

Though she’s always by-the-book, she has an open style of management, Tran said.

“That’s very conducive because it takes a lot of different players to apply for a grant and to manage one and see it closed out,” she said.

Kerry Quillin, the other grant coordinator, said she has learned a lot from Gatewood.

“When I have questions, she’s always willing to stop, take the time and explain it to me. That’s why she’s a great boss,” Quillin said.

Most of the work behind grants happens not on the front line but at management meetings, on the phone with funders and in the pages of fat grant applications.

“She works in the back a lot, but she’s this gem,” said Hajdukovich.

Is there anything you don’t like about your job?

I think the hardest part about my job is being the bad guy. Being the person who kind of lives and breathes compliance, sometimes people hear ‘no’ more often than they hear ‘yes’ from me. But it keeps us in line and out of trouble.

Q & A

Who would you want to meet from the world of government?

It would be Arne Duncan, the secretary of education. I think he’s doing phenomenal things, the direction he’s taken the Department of Education. But I think I’d want to have a sit-down and say ‘Don’t forget the little people.’ Make sure when we’re crafting new laws and regulations that deal with grant funding and requirements that you don’t forget the kids in Alaska. They’re just as important and need just as much assistance as the kids in New York and L.A.

What do you do outside of work?

Oh gosh, I craft grant statements in my sleep. I’m still trying to pin down what my fun is. I am so not an outside person. I like to read for pleasure because I read so much for work, so if I can pick up a romance novel for a couple of hours, that’s my idea of heaven.