Our PTO takes photos for our website, our Facebook page and many of the group or candid shots for our yearbook. Recently, we've become concerned about photo releases (right now we rely on the school district's blanket opt-out photo release). A nearby school PTO was sued over a photo of a parent (and her student) that she considered unflattering. While the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, the PTO had to make a claim on their insurance and cough up $800 of PTO funds for legal fees. We try to address safety concerns (i.e. children in the witness protection program, custody situations) by having our administration look at every photo we use to make sure the children depicted are not on the "no photos" list the school maintains.
We can't seem to get a straight answer/blanket statement from the district, What do other PTOs do to protect themselves from liability over photos used?