FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Fri., Feb. 28, 2025
CONTACT: Christina Johnson, christina@on3pr.com, 850.391.5040
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Fri., Feb. 28, Florida TaxWatch will proudly announce that Highlands Middle School Principal Leon Mungin Jr. is among the 15 winners of the Florida TaxWatch 2024-25 Principal Leadership Awards (PLA). Through the program, Principal Mungin has also identified one deserving student to receive a full two-year Florida Prepaid College Scholarship.
The award and scholarship will be presented during a ceremony today on the campus of Highlands Middle School at 12:00 p.m. EST. Media are invited to attend and asked to RSVP to Ansley Green via email at ansley@on3pr.com or by text/phone at 850.294.3061.
Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro said, “Florida TaxWatch established this one-of-a-kind and the only evidence-based Principal Leadership Awards program, which uses comprehensive data to determine the most effective principals in our state, to reward these outstanding principals for the transformational impact they are having both in their schools and in their communities. Congratulations to all of the winners!”
Florida TaxWatch Executive Vice President and General Counsel Jeff Kottkamp said, “Principals are the backbone of Florida’s schools – as leaders in their schools, they support and motivate hard-working teachers and ensure students of all ages are provided ample opportunities to succeed. Thank you, to the 15 amazing principals, for all you to do inspire and support the children in your schools.”
Florida Prepaid College Foundation Director Cindy O’Connell said, “The Florida Prepaid College Foundation is a proud, longstanding partner of the Principal Leadership Awards Program, which creates statewide opportunities and policies that benefit Florida’s students. This program recognizes and rewards 15 effective principals across the state and provides each principal with an opportunity to award a deserving student with an Academic A+ Challenge Match Scholarship. We look forward to the future development of this program and continued partnership with Florida TaxWatch.”
About the Principal Leadership Awards Program
Established by Florida TaxWatch 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 15 of Florida’s most successful principals from high-risk K-12 public schools across the state (five principals each from elementary, middle, and high schools, including traditional and charter public schools). Principals are selected based on weighted Florida Department of Education data, not through nominations.
Additionally, Florida TaxWatch 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 college 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 would not be possible without the support of Florida TaxWatch’s generous sponsors, including Charter Communications, Dominic and Debbie Calabro, FBMC, First Horizon Bank, Florida Lottery, Florida Prepaid College Foundation, Florida Power and Light, JM Rubin Foundation, Keswick Partners/Step up for Students, Kyra Solutions, MAXIMUS, Steve and Linda Evans, Suffolk Construction, Team Horner, Tampa Electric Company, and Walmart.
For more information, including a full list of the 2024-25 PLA winners, please 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 taxpayers and businesses. FTW is supported by its membership via voluntary, tax-deductible donations and private grants. 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 taxpayers it serves since 1979. For more information, please visit www.floridataxwatch.org.
About the Florida Prepaid College Foundation
The Florida Prepaid College Foundation established the Academic A+ Challenge Match Scholarship Program to recognize students who are making exemplary efforts in their classrooms and communities while overcoming significant challenges in their life. The Program was originally developed in partnership with the Florida TaxWatch Outstanding Principals’ Leadership Program, and initially SunTrust Bank. These scholarships were awarded to financially challenged students in at-risk schools. Twenty-one students in grades 4-12 in communities throughout Florida have been awarded a 2-Year Florida College Plan scholarship. For more information, please visit www.floridaprepaidcollegefoundation.com.
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