The commissioner replacing the board of trustees at a troubled South Auckland school believes it will take at least a year to work through concerns about student safety and school management.
The board of trustees at Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate in Otara was replaced with Commissioner Gail Thomson in December.
Education Minister Anne Tolley sacked the board after a report from the Education Review Office.
The report says abuse by some teachers included hitting, swearing at and denigrating students, and the board failed to address misconduct by teachers. .
Ms Thomson began her role as commissioner on Tuesday and expects it will take at least a year to work through concerns outlined in the ERO report.
She says it will take a while to learn how the school operates, but is not expecting any problems working alongside staff and students.
