Florida TaxWatch to Honor Evans High School Immediate Past Principal and Palm Bay Elementary School Principal with 2022-23 Principal Leadership Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thurs., March 23, 2023
CONTACT: Aly Coleman Raschid, aly@on3pr.com, 850.391.5040
MEDIA ADVISORY:
Florida TaxWatch to Honor Evans High School Immediate Past Principal and Palm Bay Elementary School Principal with 2022-23 Principal Leadership Awards
Orlando, Fla. – On Mon., March 27, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) will honor Rolando Bailey – Evans High School Immediate Past Principal, now Orange County Public Schools’ Area Superintendent for the Southeast Learning Community – with the Florida TaxWatch 2022-23 Principal Leadership Award (PLA), which identifies Florida’s most effective principals in high-risk K-12 public schools, recognizes and rewards their work, and promotes their transformational practices throughout the state. The following day, Tues., March 28, the taxpayer research institute will also present Palm Bay Elementary School Principal Michael Mahl with the same award.
During the two separate ceremonies, Area Superintendent Bailey and Principal Mahl will also each be awarding a deserving student with full two-year Florida Prepaid College Scholarship, made possible by Florida TaxWatch.
Media are invited to attend both ceremonies. Please coordinate with Aly Coleman Raschid via email at aly@on3pr.com or by phone 850.391.5040 to RSVP.
WHAT:
Florida TaxWatch Principal Leadership Award Ceremonies
WHEN:
Ceremony 1
Mon., March 27
9 a.m.
Ceremony 2
Tues., March 28
9 a.m.
WHERE:
Ceremony 1
Evans High School
4949 Silver Star Rd.
Orlando, FL 32808
Ceremony 2
Palm Bay Elementary School
1200 Allamanda Rd.
N.E. Palm Bay, FL 32905
WHO:
Ceremony 1
Rolando Bailey, Immediate Past Principal, Evans High School / Area Superintendent, Southeast Learning Community, Orange County Public Schools
John F. Davis, Secretary, The Florida Lottery
Linda Webster, Regional Manager, External Affairs, FP&L
Spencer Pylant, External Affairs Manager, TECO Energy
Meg Cannon, Research Analyst, Florida TaxWatch
Jessica Cimijotti, Research Analyst, Florida TaxWatch
Ceremony 2
Michael Mahl, Principal, Palm Bay Elementary School
Dr. Robert Schiller, Interim Superintendent, Brevard Public Schools
Michele Murrell, External Affairs Manager, FP&L
Meg Cannon, Research Analyst, Florida TaxWatch
Jessica Cimijotti, Research Analyst, Florida TaxWatch
About the Principal Leadership Awards Program
Established by Florida TaxWatch (FTW) in 2013, the Principal Leadership Awards (PLA) program serves to acknowledge and reward educational leaders who are creating meaningful change in their students’ lives, while also promoting their uniquely effective practices among their peers. This program, which is the only one of its kind nationwide, recognizes nine of Florida’s most successful principals from high-risk K-12 public schools across the state (three principals each from elementary, middle, and high schools, including traditional and charter public schools). Principals are selected based on weighted Department of Education data, not through nominations.
Additionally, FTW is partnering with the Florida Prepaid College Foundation and private corporate sponsors to provide one student from each winner’s school with a two-year Florida College Plan Scholarship. The winning students – who find out about the scholarship during a surprise announcement the day of the award presentation – are selected by their principal and must meet several criteria that would traditionally make attending college, let alone paying for it, a significant challenge. Through these scholarships, this transformational program is able to change deserving students’ lives and help close the achievement gap.
The PLA program is supported by generous sponsors, including: The J.M. Rubin Foundation, The Florida Lottery, Florida Prepaid, Charter Communications, FBMC, Florida Coalition for Children, FICPA, FP&L, Gunster, Helios, Kyra Solutions, Maximus, TECO Energy, Walmart, Dominic and Debbie Calabro, Steve and Linda Evans, and Tony and Allison Carvajal.
For more information, including a full list of the 2022-23 PLA winners, click here.
About Florida TaxWatch
As an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog and taxpayer research institute for more than forty years and the trusted eyes and ears of Florida taxpayers, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) works to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government. Its research recommends productivity enhancements and explains the statewide impact of fiscal and economic policies and practices on citizens and businesses. FTW is supported by its membership via voluntary, tax-deductible donations and private grants and does not accept government funding. Donations provide a solid, lasting foundation that has enabled FTW to bring about a more effective, responsive government that is more accountable to, and productive for, the citizens it serves since 1979. For more information, please visit www.floridataxwatch.org.
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