Three weeks after it was announced that Gabe Ontiveros would be leaving his position as principal at Turlock High School to return to eCademy Charter to take over for retiring principal Tim Norton, the district has found their new principal to lead the Bulldogs, and it’s a familiar face to many within the district and Turlock community.

During the Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting, TUSD superintendent Dana Trevethan recommended that Dr. David Kline be approved by the Board to be the next Turlock High principal. It was unanimously approved.

“I'm excited by the opportunity and honored that the board and Superintendent Trevethan would place their trust in me to lead this lead this great school,” Kline said.

Kline earned his M.A. in Education administration in 1997 and his Doctor of Education in 2016. He joined TUSD for the first time in 1991 as a teacher up until 1998. He returned to the district in 2009 when he began serving as principal at Turlock Junior High. In 2014, Kline transitioned to serve as the director of human resources in the Newman-Crows Landing School District. In 2021, he was named superintendent in the Oakdale Unified School District.

“I've been part of Turlock for decades, and always enjoyed it,” Kline said. “My last placement was at Turlock Junior High, and I just loved it. Great, great community, great school district. I've always had the desire to return to Turlock, but the opportunity never presented itself. When the position opened up, I jumped at the chance. I saw that and I was fortunate to go from there.”

Though Kline will assume his position as THS principal on July 1, he is already taking steps to familiarize himself with the school and the campus culture, working alongside Ontiveros to schedule collaboration sessions and dates for campus tours.

“I'm a local guy, so my availability is pretty open where I can reach out to Gabe, and we've already scheduled some dates for me to walk around campus and for him to kind of share with me some of the great things that he's been a part of,” Kline said. “I'm looking forward to hearing the great things that he's done and then looking to see where else we can take this great school.

“There's a lot of heritage, a lot of tradition associated with Turlock High, a lot of fantastic people have worked here, and I'm just looking forward to the opportunity to come back home to work with all the great staff members here,” he continued. “I’m proud to be a Bulldog.”