Former certified band school principal Pehgee Agnes Boholst Aranas has reportedly been disciplined by the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation for spanking a First Nations student and making comments “inconsistent” with truth and reconciliation. CBC reports that Aranas received a written warning in 2021 after making anti-Indigenous comments in an email to an employee, and was placed on leave in 2023 after striking a Grade 1 student and falsely claiming that the student’s parents approved of her actions. “Her actions perpetuated the harmful legacy of physical abuse in Indian Residential Schools and reflected a belief in harmful stereotypes,” the commissioner wrote in the consent agreement. “Her actions harmed [the student], negatively impacted the community’s feelings of trust and safety in the education system and did not contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing.” In 2024, the First Nation that operated the certified band school ended her employment; the commissioner has suspended Aranas’s teaching certificate for three days and ordered her to take educational courses.
