Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees elected former Vice Chair Larry Kennedy as the new chairman with Trustee Bernardo Perez filling in his old position, according to a Dec. 18 press release.

Kennedy and Perez will focus on building programs to provide dual and concurrent enrollment to give high school students college credit. In addition, they will work on restoring programs cut during the recession, such as food services and faculty positions.

“We’re working very closely with the Ventura County Office of Education to work better with the high schools,” said VCCCD Interim Chancellor Bernard Luskin. “There’s a very strong relationship between the high school districts and community colleges and universities.”

Kennedy, who replaced former Chairwomen Dianne McKay, is a U.S. Navy veteran who previously worked at Oxnard College as a business professor and as Director of the Job and Career Center, before he was elected to the VCCCD Board of Trustees in 2012.

Kennedy serves as co-chair for the new Veterans Caucus. He also owns Kennedy Consulting Services, a consulting firm that trains workforce professionals to improve services through staff and board workshops.

Perez served on the Moorpark City Council and was the mayor of Moorpark, before joining the Board of Trustees in 2010. He currently holds positions on the Workforce Investment Board, the Moorpark Foundation for the Arts and the Simi Valley Hospital Foundation.

Additional Trustees are Stephen Blum, Arturo Hernández, Dianne McKay and Student Trustee Ilse Maymes.