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Falls Church’s School Board election remained unsettled after the Nov. 4 vote, with just 56 votes separating the candidates in fourth and fifth place and as many as 150 provisional and mail-in ballots still awaiting inclusion.
Five candidates competed for four seats. The reported totals were:
- MaryKate “MK” Hughes — 4,498
- Anne Sherwood — 3,925
- Lori Silverman — 3,820
- Kathleen Tysse — 3,475
- Sharon Mergler — 3,419
The count left School Board Vice Chair Kathleen Tysse narrowly ahead of teacher Sharon Mergler. Falls Church Director of Elections and General Registrar David Bjerke said during the Nov. 6 Electoral Board canvass that a recount would probably follow.
Final results were expected Nov. 12, when the Electoral Board was scheduled to add provisional and mail-in ballots. Those ballots could widen or narrow the gap. If the candidates finish within 1% of the total School Board vote, the trailing candidate could seek a recount.
The race also produced an upset at the top of the ticket. Hughes, a former Oak Street Elementary teacher, received more votes than the three incumbents and fellow newcomer Mergler.
“We did it! I’m so excited to serve our city!!” Hughes wrote on Instagram.
Silverman also celebrated her apparent reelection, thanking Falls Church voters and pledging to continue supporting students, maintaining small class sizes, and attracting and retaining teachers and staff. Mergler posted a message of gratitude to her supporters.
Falls Church City Public Schools issued a morning announcement congratulating Hughes, Sherwood, Silverman and Tysse as the four elected members who would begin terms in January. That announcement came before the outstanding ballots were added and while the final seat remained close enough to produce a possible recount.
Library Opens Online Gateway to Falls Church History
Thousands of photographs, obituaries, government records and firsthand accounts of Falls Church history are now available online through a new digital archive from Mary Riley Styles Public Library.
The library announced the archive’s launch Nov. 5. The collection includes more than 8,000 photographs, nearly 16,000 local death notices and obituaries, and more than 200 Civil War-era letters, diaries and other documents. Many of the wartime materials were written from locations including Upton’s Hill and Munson’s Hill.
Researchers can also explore City Council minutes dating from 1948 through 2011, city budgets, community newsletters and more than 100 oral-history recordings collected by local historian H.H. Douglas between 1965 and 1982.
Library Director Megan Dotzler said the project expands public access to the city’s history while helping preserve important records for future generations.
The Mary Riley Styles Public Library Foundation funded the archive, which was assembled through years of cataloging, scanning and transcription by library and city employees, local historians and volunteers. Additional historical documents, books and organizational reports are expected to be added over time.
The archive is available around the clock from computers and mobile devices. Visitors can search across the full collection, narrow results by criteria such as date or format, and create accounts to save searches.
The library planned two orientation sessions in its Main Level Conference Room: Dec. 10, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. and Dec. 13, 2025, at 2 p.m.
Seven Groups Share $48,500 in City Arts and Humanities Grants
Falls Church awarded $48,500 to seven organizations through its fiscal 2026 Arts and Humanities Grant Program, supporting projects spanning music, theater, visual art, literature, history and cultural education.
The project grants will support Creative Cauldron’s Bold New Voices Festival, the third season of Little City Concerts, StudioEDU student courses, the CATCH Foundation’s Watch Night Celebration, the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation’s Juneteenth Celebration and a Washington Sinfonietta holiday concert.
Operational grants were awarded to Creative Cauldron, Falls Church Arts, the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation and Washington Sinfonietta.
The Recreation and Parks Department administers the annual program. City staff and a volunteer committee of residents with experience in the arts and grantmaking reviewed applications during what officials described as a highly competitive funding cycle.
Awards were based on artistic merit, anticipated community impact and alignment with city cultural-development priorities. The program is intended to promote artistic and historical work, cultural and ethnic diversity, education, broad public access and economic vitality.