Letter to Falls Church - from Sharon Schoeller

Below is a Letter to the Editor of the Falls Church News-Press from Sharon Schoeller, a long time resident and highly regarded advocate of Falls Church schools. This is a shortened version for the News-Press. Click HERE for the original, full version.

Dear Editor,
As a 29-year resident of Falls Church and a past president of PTAs at every level of our schools, I’m concerned about some of the candidates running for City Council and their “plans” for our City. Our schools are among the best in the nation and we want to keep them that way. To keep our schools competitive, we need funds to support them.
For decades, Falls Church tried with little success to attract significant commercial development. Then a number of expert studies showed that a key factor in attracting business is incorporating high-end, mixed-use development - because new residents in the mix add the buying power needed to draw businesses.
Recent Councils have successfully increased our tax base through mixed-use development, so much so that we will pay lower taxes this coming year, while we fully fund the School Board’s budget request.
New development has replaced blighted sites with high-end buildings, new shops and restaurants (e.g., The Broadway replaced the long abandoned AdCom building and The Spectrum replaced an overgrown lot vacant more than two decades).
Some candidates say the new development “overcrowds” our schools. This is not the case. Buildings such as the Broadway and Byron house very few school children. These kinds of mixed-use projects generate substantial new revenue for the City, and put little load on our schools. They also mean more customers for our local businesses, helping them prosper and generate more sales tax revenue, further enhancing school funding.
Thanks to diligent planning by recent School Boards & Councils, and strong community support for construction of our new middle school and expansion of Mt. Daniel, our schools have ample capacity. As the current School Board chair stated in a letter Feb. 24th, “we can handle the anticipated influx of students in our current buildings and classroom space in the upcoming years.”
I plan to vote for Robin Gardner, Lindy Hockenberry and Lawrence Webb for Council because they support reasonable mixed-use development as part of an overall strategy to attract business, citizens and tax dollars to Falls Church to support our excellent services and schools.

Sharon Schoeller
Falls Church