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Early childhood special education teacher Sharon Mergler launched her campaign for the Falls Church City School Board on Sunday, Aug. 24, calling for stronger family engagement, greater support for educators and tighter restrictions on student cellphone use.

Mergler announced her bid at Cherry Hill Park’s pavilion before dozens of supporters, just hours after School Board member Anne Sherwood began her reelection campaign at the same location.

Five women are competing for four seats in the Nov. 4 city election. Mergler faces MaryKate Hughes and incumbents Kathleen Tysse, Lori Silverman and Sherwood. The opening follows School Board Chair Dr. Tate Gould’s decision not to seek reelection.

From special education to public office

An Ohio native who lives in Falls Church’s Winter Hill neighborhood, Mergler earned an early childhood education degree from Ohio State University. She moved to the area in 2007 and began working for Fairfax County Public Schools as a preschool autism teacher.

Her first classroom included six children and two assistants. She later taught an enhanced autism class serving students from kindergarten through fifth grade.

In 2015, Mergler stepped away from full-time teaching to raise her children, Josephine and Sawyer, with her husband, Josh, a federal employee. During that four-and-a-half-year break, she remained involved in education through a preschool board and school cooperative.

Mergler returned to teaching online during the pandemic in 2020. As a preschool resource special education teacher, she has worked in family homes, Head Start programs and private preschool daycare settings. She has also mentored new special education teachers and collaborated with educators, administrators, therapists, lawyers and parents.

She said those experiences taught her how to guide families through sensitive discussions, including conversations about a young child’s autism diagnosis.

Mergler traced her interest in special education to a high school senior project. Initially interested in psychology, she accompanied a school psychologist into special education classrooms and decided she wanted to work directly with students. She spent the following two summers in a classroom serving children with multiple disabilities before pursuing her degree.

Connection at the center of her campaign

Mergler said she would bring both an educator’s perspective and an emphasis on stronger relationships between the School Board and the community.

Her campaign centers on making residents feel comfortable asking questions, expressing concerns and advocating for their children. She described her platform simply as a commitment to serving families and helping them feel heard.

Mergler also wants the district to review how it communicates with parents. Families receive a large amount of information from Falls Church City Public Schools, she said, and the volume can become overwhelming. She called for more organized and transparent systems that make essential information easier to understand and use.

She said that work would require cooperation among the School Board, district employees and the broader community.

Special education and teacher support

Special education would be a central focus of Mergler’s work on the board. She said educators must continually examine and adjust their practices when students are not learning.

She also supports expanded professional development as the district adapts to a new superintendent, government changes and other developments affecting schools.

Mergler said Falls Church should focus on recruiting and retaining excellent teachers while ensuring both special education and general education employees can obtain the training they need. Supporting educators, she argued, directly benefits the students in their classrooms.

She expressed enthusiasm about working with new Superintendent Dr. Terry J. Dade. Mergler said people who knew Dade during his time in Fairfax County had spoken highly of him, and she was encouraged by what she had heard about his leadership and support for staff and the central office.

A tougher line on student phones

Cellphones and artificial intelligence are among the largest immediate issues facing the School Board, Mergler said.

She favors stronger cellphone restrictions at Meridian High School, including barring their use in learning environments. She also voiced support for a bell-to-bell system under which students’ phones would remain secured throughout the school day, similar to the approach at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School.

Although she initially distinguished instructional periods from study halls, passing periods, lunch and club meetings, Mergler said a full-day policy would help students focus and reduce their dependence on devices.

She pointed to concerns about screen time, anxiety, depression, attention and declining face-to-face communication. A secure storage system, she said, could allow students to use their phones before and after school without forcing teachers to monitor devices during class.

Mergler connected her position to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order 33, issued July 9, 2024, directing schools in the commonwealth to provide cellphone-free education.

Any changes should be introduced carefully, she said, with feedback from students and parents. She described improved communication as essential to developing a workable policy.

AI rules also on the agenda

Mergler said artificial intelligence could either support learning or enable students to avoid doing their own work. Though she has not encountered AI-related problems directly among her preschool students, she has discussed the technology with parents and older students.

Because AI is developing rapidly, she said the district needs clear guidance for its appropriate use. She supports a deliberate process for establishing district-wide expectations rather than rushing toward a policy without determining how students and educators would follow it.

A competitive but cordial race

Mergler described the five-candidate contest as competitive while praising the qualifications of her opponents. Candidates have attended one another’s campaign launches, a dynamic she said reflects mutual respect and may leave voters with a difficult choice.

At her kickoff, Mergler told supporters that relationship-building distinguishes her candidacy. She thanked friends, neighbors and colleagues who encouraged her to run and invited residents to meet with her, ask questions or discuss their concerns.

Supporter Josh Singer, the IB Diploma Program coordinator at Meridian High School and a fellow Winter Hill resident, said Mergler’s strength is her ability to speak with families and learn about their experiences across the school system.

Mawuli Vodi, who owns a financial literacy company and is a family friend, described her as a leader and advocate who steps forward for people whose voices may otherwise receive less attention.

Mergler closed her campaign speech by promising to bring her educational background and community connections to the board while helping families better understand what is happening in their children’s schools.