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After all in-person instruction was suspended for Ala. schools, Brewton City Schools created a plan.

Meeting with principals, teachers, faculty, and staff, the school system is seeking to meet the immediate needs of the students.

“Our goals are pretty simple. We want to continue instruction as best we can; we want to provide nutrition as best we can; and we want to keep our people as safe as we can. If we accomplish those three things than we will have been successful this spring,” said Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Varner.

With teachers adjusting to the online instruction to finding inventive ways to connect with students, the staff has positively responded to the need.

“There are some things that we have to teach, and we are going to get that out as much as we can,” said Varner.

“We are going to encourage those kids to keep moving forward,” he added.

For students that do not have access to Internet, the parking lots of T. R. Miller High School, Brewton Elementary School, and BCS Central office have been converted into free Wi-Fi hot spots. Closely guided by the state board of education, Varner said that the teachers know the essential subjects. “The state has provided us with the minimum standards that they have to teach,” he said.

For seniors at T.R. Miller High School, the semester ended earlier than expected. Announced last week by the State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey, any high school senior who is in “good standing” and “on track to graduate” at the end of the third nine-week period, before schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic can be declared a graduate.

As far as a graduation ceremony, the school system is devoted to recognizing the seniors. “We are committed to having a graduating ceremony, but we are not sure that will be,” said Varner. The official date of graduation will be reevaluated in the future.