Healthy Green Schools & Colleges Steering Committee member Shawna Cragun recently accepted the position of Director of Transportation at Davis County School District in Utah. Shawna Cragun served on our Steering Committee for the past three years while she was Director of Custodial Services at the same district. An environmental pioneer who loves a challenge, Shawna is excited to Shawna is excited to apply her knowledge and expertise in greener, healthier solutions to the new role.
We will miss having Shawna on our Steering Committee, where she helped Healthy Green Schools & Colleges to write guidance on COVID-19 disinfection best practices, guided cleaning industry manufacturers on the needs of school districts, and was a popular presenter at our educational events and on webinars on topics including Indoor Air Quality and the cost benefits of green cleaning. It is not surprising that Shawna has jumped into her new role with dedication, creativity and enthusiasm. She has brought all of these traits to everything she has done in her career, making her an invaluable member of our Steering Committee whom we will miss dearly.
As Director of Custodial Services at Davis for 8 years, Shawna Cragun oversaw 665 employees and protected the health of 72,500 students and 8,000 staff members while managing 102 buildings with a combined 10.5 million square feet of floor space. In that role, Shawna helped the district to save thousands of dollars by investing in green cleaning equipment, she implemented an integrated pest management program to eliminate the use of pesticides in the district and she switched from conventional to more sustainable cleaning products, paper products throughout the entire district. She also made employee recognition and engagement a cornerstone of the custodial services department.
Shawna served as the President of the Utah School Custodial Managers Association and received the “2018 Outstanding Administrator of the Year” from the Utah School Employees Association and the Green Cleaning Award for Schools & Universities’ 2018 Silver Award.
As Director of Transportation with Davis School District, she will now be in charge of transporting 21,000 students on 2500 buses, with 350 drivers and assistants in this large school district outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. Shawna’s commitment to green and healthy schools will continue to guide her in this role. She is already spearheading an exploratory program to look at switching to electronic buses, assessing bus emissions and investing in the most environmentally responsible solutions to transporting students on such a large scale. In December of 2020, Shawna was elected to the Utah Safety Council Board, where she will work with state agencies and local and city governments in her state to ensure adherence to OSHA and environmental standards.
“Some of my best memories with the Steering Committee are very personal,” says Shawna. “I developed lasting friendships with the other members of the committee and was inspired seeing how invested every member of the committee was, not only for themselves and their careers but also for their own schools and all schools nationwide.”