Adding the names of deceased teachers to Alberta's new registry is unnecessary and hurtful, families say

Sel Healy says she was appalled when the Alberta government sent her husband a letter in June saying he'd be included in a new public teacher registry set to go live in September.

That's because Michael "Joe" Healy, a long-time math and science teacher at Calgary's Bishop Carroll High School, has been dead for more than 15 years.

"I was angry and frustrated, and then I was hurt. I just got really upset," said Healy, who is a retired teacher herself.

On September 1, the Alberta government plans to launch its first online registry of all teachers, principals and superintendents.

The government says it will include the names of 162,000 teachers certified in the province since 1954, the type of certificate they hold and if it's active, and information about any suspensions or licence cancellations for unprofessional conduct or incompetence.

The changes are part of Bill 85, which the legislature passed last year. The government says the move is one of several changes that will increase the transparency of teacher discipline and improve safety for students.

B.C., Saskatchewan and Ontario have similar online registries, but all three remove names from their registries when they're informed a teacher has died.

Alberta's education minister says the registry will purposefully include dead teachers so the information is useful and relevant to Albertans.

"If the office of the registrar has been informed that a teacher or teacher leader is deceased, their certificate status will say 'inactive,' " said Katharine Stavropolous, spokesperson for Education Minister Adriana LaGrange.

The government sent 92,000 emails and 70,000 letters to certified teachers and leaders to inform them of the new registry and say how they could seek an exemption, she said.

Stavropoulos said the letters weren't intended to cause pain, but relay information.

"We understand that being reminded of a lost loved one is often difficult and can stir memories of their passing, and we empathize with those who had this experience after receiving a letter from us," she said.

Healy says her long-departed husband has no place in that registry.

The 32-year teacher, who penned a 10-page poem to teach students about the history of atomic models and had colleagues in stitches when his science demonstrations went awry, lived with cancer for more than a decade.