|
Source
Lawsuit targets ‘locator’ chips in student IDs By Paul J. Weber Associated Press Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:06 PM AUSTIN, Texas -- To 15-year-old Andrea Hernandez, the tracking microchip embedded in her student ID card is a “mark of the beast,” sacrilege to her Christian faith — not to mention how it pinpoints her location, even in the school bathroom. But to her budget-reeling San Antonio school district, those chips carry a potential $1.7 million in classroom funds. Starting this fall, the fourth-largest school district in Texas is experimenting with “locator” chips in student ID badges on two of its campuses. When Hernandez and her parents balked at the so-called SmartID, the school agreed to remove the chip but still required her to wear the badge. The family refused on religious grounds, stating in a lawsuit that even wearing the badge was tantamount to “submission of a false god” because the card still indicated her participation. On Wednesday, a state district judge is expected to decide whether Northside Independent School District can transfer Hernandez to a different campus. “How often do you see an issue where the ACLU and Christian fundamentalists come together? It’s unusual,” said Chris Steinbach, the chief of staff for Republican state Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, who has filed a bill to outlaw it in Texas schools. In Texas, school funding is based on attendance. The more students seated in homeroom when the first bell rings, the more state dollars the school receives. With the locator chips, a clerk in the main office can find out whether students are elsewhere on campus and, if so, include them in the attendance count. Gonzalez said the district estimated it’ll bring in an additional $1.7 million in funding, somewhat lessening the sting of losing $61.5 million after state lawmakers cut public school funding in Texas.
Texas student tracking chip suit back in court Associated Press Mon Dec 17, 2012 7:04 AM SAN ANTONIO — The family of a 15-year-old student fighting the use of tracking badges in her San Antonio high school is asking a federal court to keep her on campus. The Northside school district equipped 4,200 students this fall with mandatory ID badges containing tracking chips. Administrators say locating students via computers will improve safety and boost attendance records that are used to calculate how much state funding a district receives. Sophomore Andrea Hernandez has refused to wear the badge, and the district says she must transfer to another campus if she doesn’t comply. A San Antonio federal court Monday is set to hear the family’s request to stop the district until the lawsuit is settled. Northside ISD is the fourth-largest school district in Texas. |