BC prison teacher doctored numbers to keep funding for his job

A teacher at a BC prison, who fiddled the numbers to make it look like inmates were still enrolled in his courses after they’d been released from jail, has been reprimanded by the teaching regulator.

According to a Dec. 9 BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation decision, Peter John Buddle falsely recorded attendance for inmates who had since been released so he could keep the funding for his teaching position going.

“Buddle’s actions were dishonest, carried out for personal gain, and undermined the public’s confidence in the profession,” BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation said in the decision.

The decision said Buddle worked for Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows School District No. 42 in 2022 and 2023 and taught continuing education courses to adults in correctional centres.

However, he falsely recorded attendance for the inmates and assigned them marks after they had been released and were no longer attending his classes.

“One reason for his conduct was to try to maintain funding for his teaching position by keeping students falsely activated in his courses on the District computer system,” the regulator said.

He also taught online distance learning courses to secondary school students, but his communication was poor.

“Buddle failed to respond to emails and voice messages he received from students in his online distance learning courses and from their parents,” the regulator said.

He also gave students marks without properly checking their work.

“He assigned marks of 100% even when the work was incomplete or contained errors,” the decision read.

Buddle had been registered to teach in BC since 2000, but resigned Dec. 31, 2023.

Soon afterwards, the regulator began investigating him.

The teacher signed a consent agreement admitting to his conduct, and the Commissioner issued a public reprimand.

“Buddle failed to fulfill his teaching duties to the detriment of his students,” the regulator said.