diff --git a/Back-End/N3wtSchool/settings.py b/Back-End/N3wtSchool/settings.py
index 5d609e5..d65d1f2 100644
--- a/Back-End/N3wtSchool/settings.py
+++ b/Back-End/N3wtSchool/settings.py
@@ -234,8 +234,8 @@ EMAIL_PORT = os.getenv('EMAIL_PORT', 587)
 EMAIL_HOST_USER = os.getenv('EMAIL_HOST_USER', '')
 EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = os.getenv('EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD', '')
 EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend'
-EMAIL_USE_TLS = os.getenv('EMAIL_USE_TLS', True)
-EMAIL_USE_SSL = os.getenv('EMAIL_USE_SSL', False)
+EMAIL_USE_TLS = os.getenv('EMAIL_USE_TLS', 'true').lower() == 'true'
+EMAIL_USE_SSL = os.getenv('EMAIL_USE_SSL', 'false').lower() == 'true'
 
 DOCUMENT_DIR = 'documents'
 
diff --git a/Back-End/start.py b/Back-End/start.py
index 853e703..510e4c8 100644
--- a/Back-End/start.py
+++ b/Back-End/start.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ def run_command(command):
         print(f"stderr: {stderr.decode()}")
     return process.returncode
 
-test_mode = os.getenv('TEST_MODE', 'False') == 'True'
+test_mode = os.getenv('test_mode', 'false').lower() == 'true'
 
 commands = [
     ["python", "manage.py", "collectstatic", "--noinput"],