Big change is coming to the Richmond School Board in this year's election.

When the votes are counted Nov. 4, the board will have at least four new faces among its nine members.

When the new group officially convenes for the first time in January, it won't have much time to settle in.

The school system will need a new superintendent almost immediately, but that won't be the only issue the board will face.

Among others will be catching up with an in-progress budget cycle, figuring out school enrollment patterns, talking about a charter school, and figuring out how to fulfill a court-supervised plan to make city school buildings accessible to the disabled.

Here is a look at contested races:

One race to watch is in the 5th District, where incumbent Betsy Carr is facing school-system employee Otis E. Mallory in the closest thing the city will see to a referendum on charter schools. This is the only district where the candidates have opposing views on the issue, which has been magnified by the debate to establish a charter school in the old Patrick Henry building on South Side.

Carr has supported the idea all along, while Mallory has offered tepid backing, at best, with his stump speeches usually focusing on the need to improve facilities at all schools.

The toughest race of the year -- and definitely the most blogged -- is in the 4th District, where four candidates are competing to replace outgoing Chairman George P. Braxton II.

Within hours of Braxton announcing in the spring that he wouldn't seek a third term, Bert Berlin announced that he was running -- with Braxton's support. A retired attorney, Berlin has been active in city schools through a multidenominational church program with a presence in most of Richmond's elementary schools.

Joining him in the field are Adria Graham Scott, a state housing and community-development program manager and the wife of Anthony Scott, the executive director of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

John T. Lloyd, a retired insurance-claims specialist; and Jonathan C. Mallard, a bridge engineer, round out the field.

With all four candidates running their own Web sites and regularly chiming in on a variety of local news blogs, the 4th has offered the best debate of the year, with the charter school issue generating a considerable amount of the attention. While all four have supported the concept, getting there has been a spirited process.

The 7th District is a tough race, too, with three candidates vying to fill the seat Keith West is giving up after a single term.

Donald L. Coleman, who finished second to West last time, and Torey J. Edmonds, a community-liaison specialist at Virginia Commonwealth University, lead the field. Ronald L. Bond, the fourth-place finisher two years ago, also is running.

Coleman said the big mistake he made last time was not knocking on as many doors as West.

"You have to be visible," he said. With a campaign staff and perhaps the largest collection of campaign paraphernalia in the city, that shouldn't be a problem for him this year.

Edmonds is touting her experience with education research, including a recent project at Elkhardt Middle School designed to determine ways to get parents more involved in the schools.

In the 8th District, two candidates and a vocal write-in contender are vying to succeed Joan T. Mimms.

Longtime school employee and School Board gadfly Charles D. Willis was the self-proclaimed front-runner throughout the summer, and his position looked good when the city's teachers union, the Richmond Education Association, offered him its endorsement.

That backing was quickly withdrawn, though, when the REA was reminded of Willis' past, including a conviction for assaulting a student in a classroom.

The likely benefactor is Dawn C. Page, a veteran PTA leader who has been a school counselor, teacher and tutor. The write-in is Carolyn Edwards, the PTA president at George Wythe High School.

In the 6th District, neighbors Chandra Smith, the incumbent, and Arthur L. Burton, the perennial challenger, are again facing off.

And in the 2nd District, Vice Chairwoman Lisa Dawson is being challenged for the first time. Kimberly B. Gray, a state transportation analyst, is running on a platform of putting more money into classrooms.

Uncontested

Incumbents Kimberly Bridges, 1st District, and Evette L. Wilson, 9th District, are running unopposed, as is newcomer Norma H. Murdoch-Kitt, in the 3rd District.

Write-ins

While the only successful write-in campaign in the memory of Richmond's voter registrar involved a single incumbent running unopposed -- he failed to qualify for the ballot, and no one challenged him on the write-in -- that hasn't stopped at least three candidates from announcing that they're running as such.

Gary Callis, in the 9th District, and Edwards, in the 8th, both tried to get on the ballot but didn't submit enough qualified signatures. In the 3rd District, Pat Fishback emerged last month as a self-proclaimed candidate, complete with yard signs. Also in the 3rd, incumbent Carol A.O. Wolf, has hinted at a write-in campaign after her failure to qualify for the ballot, but that effort has seemed to fizzle. Given the opportunity to participate in an all-candidate forum last week, she declined.

Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or zreid@timesdispatch.com.