B.C. jailhouse teacher reprimanded for falsifying marks, attendance records

The Fraser Regional Correctional Centre is seen in Maple Ridge, B.C. on Aug. 15, 2010. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Jonathan Hayward)

A former jailhouse teacher from B.C.’s Lower Mainland has been reprimanded after admitting to falsifying marks and attendance records.

Peter John Buddle’s misconduct took place while he was teaching continuing education courses to inmates in 2022 and 2023, according to a consent agreement he signed with B.C.’s commissioner for teacher regulation.

The document doesn’t specify where Buddle was working, only that he was employed with School District 42—which offers courses at both the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre and the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women.

Buddle admitted he assigned marks and recorded attendance for individuals “enrolled in his courses at correctional centres after they had been released and were no longer attending the courses,” the agreement reads.

“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,” it adds.

During the same years, Buddle was also teaching online distance learning courses to high school students, and was found to have assigned marks without properly reviewing their work—in some cases giving students 100 per cent for work that was “incomplete or contained errors,” according to the agreement.

He also failed to respond to emails and voice messages he received from students and their parents.

Buddle resigned from the district in December 2023, but still holds a valid teaching certificate.

Commissioner Donnaree Nygard reviewed the circumstances of Buddle’s misconduct and decided to issue a reprimand to the teacher, finding his actions “were dishonest, carried out for personal gain, and undermined the public’s confidence in the profession.”