The issues dogging the scandal-plagued TDSB -- the country’s largest school board -- have come to a head with the release of a damning external board review last month that accused trustees of interfering with day-to-day school operations, harassing staff and refusing to close a swath of under-utilized schools.

TDSB trustees are now working to turn the page on a few dysfunctional years and have agreed to comply with directives from the province that aim to correct some of the board's past problems.

Here we offer an inventory of TDSB players you may recognize from the headlines:

Director of Education:

Donna Quan was hired in 2013 to replace Chris Spence, who resigned in January 2013 after allegations surfaced that he plagiarized several passages of opinion pieces he wrote for Toronto media outlets. Quan herself began to make headlines in late 2014 when she became involved in the notorious infighting of trustees. Three trustees, including the former chair of the board Mari Rutka, went to the province to complain that the director was withholding her employment contract from board members. Quan also became a focal point of media attention when the TDSB approved a salary increase for her despite the fact that the raise did not comply with the province’s public sector wage freeze. Quan and the board have since agreed to scale back her salary from $298,000 to $272,000 at the request of the province’s education minister.

Police charges:

Howard Goodman is a former trustee for the TDSB who was arrested and charged with criminal harassment and confinement in November. The alleged victim is said to be Donna Quan. In response to the charges, Goodman’s lawyer released a statement saying the outgoing trustee would “vigorously defend himself” in court and that Goodman regrets that the criminal justice system was being “misused for political purposes.” Goodman was previously accused of intimidating Quan at board meeting on Feb. 26, 2014 and the trustee subsequently wrote her an apology letter.

Ontario’s education minister

Liz Sandals -- -- After a scathing, external review of the TDSB was released in January which not only questioned the behavior of trustees but the management of the board’s budget, Sandals gave the board 13 directives to comply with by Feb. 13. Some of the recommendations, which were made by educator Margaret Wilson as part of a comprehensive review, include developing and implementing clear day-to-day roles for trustees, closing all trustee offices, firing all trustee constituency assistants and developing a three-year capital plan that looks at closing and selling off some of the city’s underutilized schools. Sandals said the money the TDSB has been spending maintaining under-utilized schools should go to programming for students.

A closer look at the board:

The Toronto District School Board is made up of 22 trustees, who represent 22 different wards in the city. A big shakeup came last October when Torontonians voted in 11 first-time trustees, signaling a desire to bring in new blood. Here is how some new and veteran trustees reacted to the damning external report and the province’s 13 directives, which the board has now approved.

Shaun Chen is the current chair of the Toronto District School Board who was appointed in December 2014 after former chair Chris Bolton abruptly resigned in June, 2014 for what he said were “personal reasons.” The new chair guided the board through the challenging process of complying with the province’s directives, including addressing this issue of school closures. Over the next three years, the board has agreed to review 48 schools for possible closure. Chen said that the public consultation process will be lengthy and that none of the schools could be closed until 2016 at the earliest. “The big strong message is that the community wants to be a part of the process,” Chen told CP24 on Feb. 10. “They want to see community hubs. They don’t necessarily want to see their local schools close and we have to be very responsible in how we move forward.”

Sheila Cary-Meagher is a long-time TDSB trustee for Beaches/East York and is currently the vice-chair of the board. Cary-Meagher has previously spoken out about the education minister’s directives, telling Toronto media that the move felt like a “punch in the face.” Following a meeting where trustees approved the last three directives on the education minister’s checklist, Cary-Meagher told reporters that she believes the province is treating the TDSB “shamefully.”

Sheila Ward has been a trustee for close to 30 years and currently represents Toronto Centre-Rosedale. Although she has been very outspoken on many issues in the past, she remained relatively quiet on the issue of the province’s directives. Ward was one of 10 trustees, including Cary-Meagher and Shaun Chen, who voted to give Donna Quan a raise despite the public sector wage freeze.

Howard Caplan is the trustee for York Centre. Kaplan was critical of the amount of time the province gave the board to comply with its recommendations, telling one Toronto media outlet that the request was “unreasonable” and “irresponsible.”

Michael Ford surprised many when he unseated Etobicoke North (Ward 1) incumbent trustee John Hastings last October. The 20-year-old nephew of Rob and Doug Ford was one of 11 newly elected trustees. The newcomer was one of six new trustees, including Ausma Malik and Parthi Kandavel, who issued a statement after the province’s directives came down. The statement said that they welcomed the recommendations however losing constituency assistants could make it more difficult to communicate with the community.

Ausma Malik is a former educational policy worker for the Ontario NDP Party and is the trustee for Trinity-Spadina, the ward formerly held by ex-chair Chris Bolton. Despite hate-filled attacks targeting her on her election campaign, the Muslim candidate won the Ward 10 seat by a wide margin. During the final meeting before the province’s deadline, Malik was one of the trustees who unsuccessfully tried to persuade the board the delay deciding which “under-utilized” schools should be reviewed.

Parthi Kandavel is the trustee for Ward 18 and following the release of Wilson’s report, he told CP24 that he welcomed the report and its directives. “The city of Toronto spoke very clearly in the election last year and elected 11 new trustees and I think all of us are committing to bringing a culture of collaboration and cooperation.”