During her final Montgomery County R-II School Board meeting as assistant superintendent on June 11 at Montgomery County Middle School, Dr. Jocelyn Schluss saw a big rainbow through a window behind her.

The rainbow was formed from the heavy rain that hit the Montgomery City area before the meeting. Schluss loved seeing it.

“That’s pretty cool,” Schluss said. “That’s a sign from God that things are going to work out.”

Schluss is retiring after 27 years in education, including seven as assistant superintendent at R-II. Starting July 1, she will be working as assistant commissioner for the office of childhood at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

During the board meeting, Schluss received a resolution from Board President Karl Queathem, recognizing her accomplishments during her long career in education.

“That is something that I think every district I’ve been a part of has done for its retirees,” Schluss said. “It’s definitely bittersweet to be at the end of it.”

Also at the meeting, Schluss gave out her final achievement report and requested board members to have the school district switch to a safe crisis management program. The board approved it.

“Washington is the district that I talked to the most, but there are a handful of districts around us that switched to SCM,” Schluss said.

Schluss graduated from Montgomery County High School in 1995. She worked at the Warrenton, Hermann, Jefferson City, Owensville and Washington school districts before joining the R-II administrative staff in 2019.

Sitting at her office at the R-II Central Building, Schluss got emotional when she got to reflect on her career.

“I had such an amazing career,” Schluss said. “I had so many mentors and opportunities along the way. I just feel like every change was an opportunity for me to learn and be better. Larry Guy was the principal at the elementary school forever. When I graduated from college, he called and said, ‘OK, you can come back home.’ At that time, I was 21 years old and I’m too good to go back.’ I remember telling Larry, ‘I don’t want to come back there right away.’ It was probably the best case because I had so many great opportunities and I met so many amazing educators and people. Coming back here was the best way to end my career.”

Schluss said she is looking forward to working at her new job. She will be handling childcare licensing, rules and regulations, childcare subsidies and all of the early learning components.

“It’s such an amazing opportunity to work at the state level,” Schluss said. “That’s not anything I ever dreamed of or inspired to. I kind of applied on a whim. Never in a million years would I get this job. When they called and offered it, I thought, ‘This is my sign. This is my next opportunity.’”

But on June 30, Schluss will have to say goodbye to a school district she has been part of for many years. Her grandmother worked as a secretary at the central office for over 30 years and had many family members — including two of her daughters — who were students at R-II.

“My whole world is here,” Schluss said.

Schluss replaced Della Bell-Freeman as assistant superintendent in 2019. During her seven years at R-II, Schluss worked under three superintendents — Mike Gray, Tracy Bottoms and Brian White. She said she enjoyed her time at the school district.

“We have an amazing staff and they worked their tails off,” Schluss said. “Public ed got a bad rap for decades. As part of this school district, as a student, as a parent and as an employee, people here are working hard to do everything they can for our kids. They deserve the support.”

Schluss has been living in Jonesburg for 10 years. She and her husband Alan lived in Hermann for 12 years before moving to Montgomery County to help take care of her grandparents.

“I tell my own children this: I want them to know they have a choice,” Schluss said. “They can go anywhere around the world they want to go. I feel like Alan and I have that choice, too. We chose to stay here because we wanted our kids to be raised in a kind of a community and supportive environment that we both had.”

Dr. Stacy Ray will replace Schluss as assistant superintendent on July 1.