A pupil who refused to wear a badge which enabled her school to track her movements because it was the "mark of the beast" has lost her appeal.
Andrea Hernandez, from Texas, was suspended from John Jay High School after she repeatedly turned up at school minus the tracking chip. All students are required to wear the tag in order to secure attendance funding for the secondary school.
The 15-year-old took the school to court after she was banned from the classroom and won a temporary injunction to continue her studies without wearing the badge, the Associated Press reported.
On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled the local district could transfer Hernandez to another school if she continued to refuse to wear the badge.
A Texas student holds up her badge, which she is required to wear at school at all times
Both Hernandez and her parents believe wearing the badge, which consists of her picture and carries a chip to track her every movement, is tantamount to "submission of a false god".
Hernandez, a Christian Evangelist, also believes the badge is a "mark of the beast", a reference to the book of Revelations, Chapter 13 of the Bible. In Verse 16, John, one of Jesus' disciples, speaks of "forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead".
The school is one of 112 Texas institutions which has introduced the "Student Locator Project", with one school even reportedly banning students from voting for homecoming if they did not adhere to the rules.
Hernandez and her family are expected to lodge an appeal against the judge's ruling.