Court rejects student's ID badge request

A San Antonio student, refusing to wear an identification badge with a tracking chip, must comply or transfer to another school, a court ruled. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans declined to issue an injunction Thursday on behalf of Andrea Hernandez, 15, who considers the badge a violation of her religious beliefs and civil liberties. She and her father testified they consider the badge an example of "the mark of the beast" described in the Bible's Book of Revelations, the San Antonio-Express News reported Thursday. In a pilot project of San Antonio's Northside Independent School District, badges with tracking chips allow a monitor to locate the approximate positions of students, including those at John Jay High School, which Hernandez attends. She rejected the district's offer to wear a badge without a chip, which a federal judge cited as a reasonable accommodation. The school district said it would transfer Hernandez to another school.