By Collin Cadle

Bulldog Hour was first introduced last year when teachers thought it would be a good idea to have a designated time for students to receive extra help. This was intended to be a useful time, but the question is, how many kids are actually using time as it is intended to be used?

“Bulldog Hour is a nice opportunity for students to connect with teachers,” said Dr. JoAnne Smith, the principal at BHS. “Many students are not using that opportunity for academics, though. Typically each week, the number of people checking in with teachers is going down.”

BHS currently uses a QR code check-in system to track how many students are using their time to meet with students, and each week it is about 500-600 students of the roughly 2,000 students enrolled.

“Only half of these kids are doing work,” said a BHS campus monitor. “The other half is hanging out, or slacking off with friends.”

That assessment and the decreasing check-in numbers do not match a survey conducted by The Spectator this week. Of 144 student where multiple responses were allowed, 83.2 percent said that they use the time to meet with teachers, 82.6 percent said that they eat lunch, and 60.4 percent said that they make up tests. Only two percent said that they “cause mischief” and 4.7 percent said that they do “absolutely nothing.”

But as a result of the decrease in check-ins, Bulldog Hour may be taken away from students at any time. The BHS administration stresses that Bulldog Hour is a privilege, not a right. And as any other privilege, it can be taken away.

“Our school leadership team, made from teachers and staff, are looking at different things and seeing if it should still be used,” said Dr. Smith. “Most teachers like Bulldog Hour, and like the time bonding with students, but they recognize that the numbers are lower than they should be.”

So if you are not regularly checking in, then you may want to consider it because Bulldog Hour may not be here for the rest of the year at this pace of kids checking in.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published, saying that Bulldog Hour was part of a school board initiative. It was “brought about by a grassroots efforts by teachers,” according  to Dr. Smith and this story  has since been corrected.