After months of protesting a policy requiring high school students to wear an RFID-enabled ID badge around their necks at all times, Andrea Hernandez is being involuntarily withdrawn from John Jay High School in San Antonio effective November 26th, according to a letter sent by the district that has now been made public.
The letter, sent on November 13, informs her father that the Smart ID program, which was phased in with the new school year, is now in “full implementation” and requires all students to comply by wearing the location-tracking badges.
Since Andrea Hernandez has refused to wear the badge, she is being withdrawn from the magnet school and her program at the Science and Engineering Academy, and instead will have to attend William Howard Taft HS, which is not currently involved in the ID scheme, unless she changes her position.
Luckily for Andrea…A district court judge for Bexar County, Texas, has granted a temporary restraining order to prevent Northside Independent School District from removing a Hernandez from John Jay High School’s Science and Engineering Academy.
John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute said:
The court’s willingness to grant a temporary restraining order is a good first step, but there is still a long way to go—not just in this case, but dealing with the mindset, in general, that everyone needs to be monitored and controlled.
Regimes in the past have always started with the schools, where they develop a compliant citizenry. These ‘Student Locator’ programs are ultimately aimed at getting students used to living in a total surveillance state where there will be no privacy, and wherever you go and whatever you text or email will be watched by the government.
A hearing on the preliminary injunction will take place next week, at which point the future of the tracking program will be brought into question.
I think there is a very simple solution to this “problem.” If the parents want their kid to wear the tag then they should…if not then the kids should not be required to do so. I think this is more about the almighty dollar than it is about anything else. The school gets paid for the number of kids in attendance. If the kids skip school, the school loses money. The school district makes decisions based on budget, not what is good for the kids or what is or isn’t constitutional. Period.
