Eleven districts seeking to fill seats on school boards.

It's perhaps one of the most closely watched school board races this year: In Eden Prairie, eight candidates will vie next Tuesday for four open seats on Eden Prairie's school board, and whoever is elected may determine the fate of controversial school boundary changes that moved 1,100 students to new schools this year.

It's one of the 11 west-metro school districts holding board elections next week.

In Richfield, a surprising 15 candidates filed for three open seats, apparently without any particular issue driving them to run besides interest in the school district.

In Edina, a blog war prompted one candidate, Jason Berger, to drop out of the race recently. A longtime political activist started questioning positions on schools and other issues that Berger had expressed on some hyper-local websites. Berger countered in a recent Star Tribune article that some of his comments were taken out of context. He later announced that he was dropping out of the race, but his name still will appear on the ballot since it's too late to remove it.

So will Judy Gruggen's name in Bloomington, even though the school board candidate withdrew from the race due to a diagnosis of thyroid cancer. Since her announcement, she said she's received a positive prognosis and if elected, she will assume the seat.

The following is a list of candidates in each district. An asterisk denotes an incumbent seeking re-election.

BLOOMINGTON

• Judy Gruggen

• Ricardo Oliva

• Maureen Bartolotta*

• Dick Bergstrom

• Nelly Korman

Two challengers and four incumbents are vying for four seats. Board members receive $40 per meeting.

• James Spille*

• Craig Pexa*

• Chad Pederson

• Dean Lind*

• David Bleichner

EDEN PRAIRIE

Five challengers and three incumbents are vying for four seats. Incumbent Carol Bomben isn't seeking reelection. Board members receive $425 a month.

• John Estall*

• Tim Fox

• Kim Ross*

• Derek Gunderson

• Karla Bratrud

• David Espe

• Holly Parker*

Four challengers and one incumbent are vying for three seats. Incumbents Bert Ledder and Peyton Robb aren't seeking reelection. Board members receive $200 a month.

• Jason Berger

• Cathy Cella*

• Sarah Patzloff

• Ben Rider

HOPKINS

Three challengers and two incumbents are vying for four seats. Incumbents Ellen Dustman and Yvonne Selcer are not seeking reelection. Board members receive $4,953 a year; the board chairman receives $5,298 a year.

• Wendy Donovan*

• Irma McIntosh Coleman*

• Steven Adams

• Kristine Newcomer

MINNETONKA

Six challengers and two incumbents are vying for four seats. Incumbents Cal Litsey and Paul Luehr are not seeking reelection. Board members receive $375 a month; the chairman receives an additional $1,500 a year and the vice chairman receives an additional $750 a year.

• Derek Eitreim

• Charlie Kanan

• Laurie Stoltenberg

• Lisa Sumner

• Joe Torelli

• Lisa Wagner*

• Karen L. Walkowski*

One challenger and three incumbents are vying for three seats. Board members don't receive compensation.

• Michael Bash*

• John Malone*

• Dick Lewis*

• Don Germanson

Thirteen challengers and two incumbents are vying for three seats. Incumbent Tom Flood is not seeking reelection. Board members receive $6,000; the board clerk receives $6,300 and the board chairman gets $6,600 a year.

• Brian Lematta

• Monica Holl Petrov

• Scott Christensen

• Sharon Christensen

• John Ashmead

• Amy Cossette

• Peter Toensing*

• Deb Etienne

• Woody Duvlea

• Chris Williams

• Zack Olson

• Teresa Kruse

• Christine M. Maleck

ST. LOUIS PARK

• Julie Sweitzer*

• Nancy Gores*

• Pam Rykken*

• Joe Tatalovich

• Bill Levine

Four challengers and three incumbents are vying for four seats. Incumbent Pat Gleason isn't seeking reelection. Board members receive $360 a month; the board chairman gets $420 a month.

• Linda Cohen*

• Jay Hesby*

• Carter Peterson*

• Joan Curtiss

• Nick Roehl

• Gregory D. Baufield

WESTONKA

Four challengers and four incumbents are vying for four seats with four-year terms. Board members receive $200 a month.

• Ann Bremer*

• David Bond

• Ralph Harrison

• Chris Carlson

• Dan Mailey

• Gary Hejna*