Student Who Refused To Wear RFID Loses Appeal
A Texas student who refused to wear a mandatory RFID tracking device lost her federal court appeal. Andrea Hernandez, age 15, will need to wear the device if she wants to attend John Jay High School.
After an initial suspension for her refusal to wear the tracking device, Hernandez was granted a temporary injunction and was allowed to attend school without wearing the tag. The appeals court ruling has overturned that decision.
Andrea and her family feel that the requirement, recently implemented by the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, is a violation of their religious beliefs. As reported by infowars.com, Hernandez and her family are concerned that the mandatory policy is too similar to the “Mark of the Beast,” as defined in Revelations 13: 16-18.
In addition to the religious consideration, Hernandez is concerned that the tracking devise is a violation of her freedom and privacy.
The policy and RFID chips were introduced at the beginning of the 2012 school year in an effort to gain more state funding. By tracking the location of each student the district is able to provide more accurate attendance records to the state. As reported by BBC, attendance numbers directly relate to how much funding each school district receives from the state.
The appeals decision will require her to wear the badge containing the RFID chip if she would like to attend John Jay High School. Hernandez can choose to transfer to a different district that does not require wearing the device.
John Jay High School is only one of two schools in the district that have implemented the program. The district intends to eventually require the badges at all 112 schools in the Northside Independent School District.
