ENCINITAS – The San Dieguito Union High School District has rejected a $1.5 million claim filed by parents who allege that photos of their daughter partially unclothed in a Torrey Pines High School literary magazine were published illegally without their consent.

Superintendent Peggy Lynch rejected the claim by Scott and Diane Salka of Rancho Santa Fe on behalf of their 16-year-old daughter, Monterey Salka. Dan Gilleon, the San Diego attorney representing the family, said he was not surprised.

“It’s consistent with their public statements that they did nothing wrong,” he said of district officials.

A claim must be filed before suing a government entity, and the Salkas plan to proceed with a lawsuit, Gilleon said.

“The parents remain convinced that the school breached duties to supervise, and their daughter was harmed as a result of it,” he said. “And until the school can acknowledge that, the only (recourse) the family has is to have a jury of 12 people determine who is responsible.”

The pictures at issue appeared in last spring’s issue of the Torrey Pines literary magazine, First Flight. In the photo spread about the human form, Monterey, who is a professional model and at the time was a sophomore, appeared alongside two other students in her underwear and a flesh-colored tank top, or topless with hair covering her breasts. The “semi-nude” photographs were taken at a studio under the direction of two student coeditors, without adult supervision or parent permission for those types of images, according to the claim.

The parents of the other two students who appeared in the photos provided Torrey Pines High School with written consent. And the teacher adviser for the literary magazine and two student coeditors did research and determined that the photo spread was protected by the First Amendment.

Dan Shinoff, an attorney for the San Dieguito district, said school officials believe the claim is without merit.

The photo spread in the literary magazine has First Amendment protections, he said. “And I think that as a result of the award that the literary magazine just received, nobody can make the argument that it lacks literary value.” Last month, the publication placed first in the Best of Show category for literary magazines by the National Scholastic Press Association, an organization that supports student publications.

The magazine includes paintings, poems, writing samples and pictures, and many students have described the photo spread as mimicking popular, commercial advertisements.