Dr. Thurman’s career spans twenty-nine years as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director, professor, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. Since April, 2022, he served as interim Superintendent for Calexico Unified School District in Imperial County. Before assuming the role of interim Superintendent, Dr. Thurman led the district’s Human Resources and Risk Management Departments as Assistant Superintendent since 2019.

Dr. Thurman began his public education career in McFarland and Jurupa Unified School Districts teaching elementary students, before working as an assistant principal and principal in Ontario-Montclair School District. Eventually, Dr. Thurman served as a middle school principal, high school principal, director of Human Resources and director of the School of Education for a local university. Most recently, he served as principal of Riverview Elementary in Lakeside before serving in the Assistant Superintendent capacity for Calexico Unified. Dr. Thurman and his wife live in San Diego where she is a nurse practitioner and a nursing professor for 2 local universities. Their oldest son graduated from Azusa Pacific University and is an ICU nurse and their twin boys currently attend Azusa Pacific University as well.

Throughout Dr. Thurman’s educational career, he has taken on an array of initiatives, outreach and academic improvement efforts that have created an environment of collegiality with staff, families, and the community-at-large. Having worked in large and small, suburban and urban districts, makes him uniquely positioned for success in Ramona. As a strong communicator (and Spanish speaker), he brings a deep sense of inclusivity and insight to the role. Dr. Thurman’s ability to listen, build relationships and bring people together are trademarks that will strengthen RUSD’s mission to ensure a high level of learning for all students through a culture of collaboration with families and the community.