FOIP: Frequently asked questions for School Jurisdictions
The following is submitted by Steve Dills,Editor of the Sylvan Lake News
Again during the Christmas season, I got questions about what pictures newspapers are allowed to take during school Christmas concerts, relative to current FOIP legislation. The info below might be of interest to publishers and editors.
At the following website there’s a great FAQ (attached) that states basically that once it’s a public event anyone may take pictures without needing consent forms signed.
http://www.servicealberta.ca/foip/documents/faq-school-jurisdictions.pdf
“Once parents or other members of the public are invited (other than as volunteers within the school), the event becomes a public event, and anyone in attendance may take photographs without first obtaining consent.”
We have a good relationship with our schools and they usually get blanket consent forms signed at the beginning of each school year. The issue arose this year, because we published the face of one of the kids whose parents hadn’t signed a consent form.