TRI In The News

School District Drops Student Tracking Program

From HLN

A Texas school district has ended a controversial pilot program that required students to wear tracking devices.

“I can confirm that we will not proceed past the one-year pilot stage of the Student Locator Project,” says Pascual Gonzalez, the executive director of communications for San Antonio’s Northside School District.

The program faced an onslaught of criticism when administrators introduced it last fall at two low-performing high schools. Critics charged that the RFID program was akin to a biblical reference, “the mark of the beast.” Privacy advocates latched onto the case when a 15-year-old sophomore, Andrea Hernandez, refused to wear the device, citing religious reasons. She later filed a lawsuit against the district with the help of attorneys from the Rutherford Institute, a conservative policy center that advocates for civil liberties. The lawsuit was rejected by a judge in January.

The district has said that the program introduced at Jay High and Anson Jones Middle schools would keep better track of student attendance, which partially determines state funding. In the end, Gonzalez says, the program didn’t meet its goals.

“The attendance increases after one year were only .5% at the high school and .07 % at the middle school, and neither one of the increases can be solely attributed to the use of the technology,” he says.

“Hernandez’ case had little impact on the district’s decision," he adds. "One family protested out of 4,200 students. They took NISD to federal court and appeals court on religious issues. The court sided with NISD. While the court issue was part of the conversation about the future of RFID, it certainly was not the deciding factor."

However, John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, believes the suit filed by Hernandez did make a difference.

“This decision by Texas school officials to end the student locator program is proof that change is possible if Americans care enough to take a stand and make their discontent heard,” Whitehead told HLN in a statement.