Education
Jowel Laguerre Named as New Chancellor of Peralta Colleges
Trustees of the Peralta Community College District recently voted to appoint Dr. Jowel C. Laguerre as the new chancellor of the district’s four colleges.
Currently superintendent of the Solano Community College District, Laguerre was one of four finalists for the job. He takes the reins this week from José Ortiz, who is retiring after three years.
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Peralta Colleges includes College of Alameda, Berkeley City College and Laney and Merritt Colleges of Oakland.
In a prepared statement, Meredith Brown, president of the district’s Board of Trustees, commended the new chancellor’s leadership experience.
“Dr. Laguerre is uniquely qualified to lead the Peralta Colleges in the coming years,” said Brown. “I look forward to working together with him to address the achievement gap, completion rates and other important issues facing our community’s students.”
Trustees appointed Laguerre on June 9 and unanimously approved his three-year contract on June 23. Trustee Nicky Gonzalez Yuen was absent.
Laguerre expressed gratitude for the appointment in a statement. He did not attend the meeting because he was “spearheading some community activities in Haiti.”
A Haitian-native, Laguerre received his doctorate in Educational Leadership and two Master’s degrees from University of Kansas.
His annual base salary is $305,000, without benefits, nearly $70,000 more than his base pay at Solano. His benefits include paid health, dental, sick leave, holidays and life insurance benefits, up to $20,000 for relocation expenses and mileage reimbursement.
He will not receive a monthly automobile allowance. Former Chancellor Ortiz’ base salary was $260,000.
Other finalists included Jeremy Brown, Andrew Jones, and Elñora Webb.
