HE HAS BEEN PAINTED as a tough dictator, but yesterday Alexandra School principal Jeff Broomes showed a different side when he related feeling hurt by what some teachers felt and said about him at the commission of inquiry, behind his back and during a strike six years ago.
He also offered an apology for his speech day comments, which triggered industrial action in January and indirectly resulted in the commission being set up.
But Broomes, saying he was looking forward to clearing up any misconceptions that people had about him, was also firm in defence of his management of the school, dismissing as “absolute nonsense” claims that he did not accept other people’s views.
It was nearing the end of his first day of testimony that, before a packed room, Broomes told Commissioner Frederick Waterman what had been bothering him and was responsible for his absence from the hearings on previous occasions.
