Pasadena Has Second School Position to Fill : Education: The superintendent and his deputy both leave within a month of each other. But the district still expects a smooth transition.

The departure of Pasadena’s deputy superintendent of schools, which comes less than a month after the superintendent retired, leaves the Pasadena Unified School District with two of its top three posts vacant.

Robert Sampieri, 55, was hired Wednesday to the No. 2 spot in the Chicago Unified School District. Pasadena is also searching for a superintendent to replace Phillip Jordan, who retired Jan. 3.

Despite the room at the top, district officials say they expect a smooth transition period.

“Because Mr. Sampieri left things very well in hand, it takes away the pressure,” said Anne Pursel, president of the Pasadena Board of Education.

Pursel praised Sampieri and said he would have been a candidate for Pasadena superintendent had he displayed interest.

“He’s very bright and responsive, and he’s done an outstanding job,” Pursel said. “It’s too bad for Pasadena that we weren’t able to keep him, but I can understand why he’d want to make this leap . . . to a bigger pond.”

The Chicago Board of Education voted unanimously to hire Sampieri on a three-year contract as its chief operations officer, at an annual salary of $140,000. The district, which serves between 410,000 and 430,000 students, is the nation’s third largest, after New York and Los Angeles, and has an annual budget of $2.1 billion.

“I’m elated,” said Sampieri. “I’m looking forward to working with a board that has a clear vision to improving education.”

In Pasadena, board members are searching for a new superindendent, who could be named this spring. Last month, they named Joseph Linscomb, the deputy superintendent for instruction, as acting superintendent.

Linscomb is said to be a contender for the superintendent’s post, along with Vera Vignes, Pasadena’s associate superintendent of personnel services. The board may also mount a national search for applicants.

The new administrators will face a stiff challenge. On standardized tests, Pasadena Unified students score in the bottom third among students statewide. The district has been plagued with what officials say is an undeserved reputation for campus violence.

The district is 38% black, 35% Latino, 21% white and 6% Asian.

Last year, a group of Sierra Madre parents tried to secede from the Pasadena school district and join more upscale Arcadia. Their petition was denied at the county level and is being considered by the state.

Sampieri said the managers he hired in purchasing, management information systems, food services, maintenance and operations, fiscal services and personnel will enable the district to carry on after he leaves.

He also cited major projects under way, including:

* A $5-million capital improvement program to upgrade classrooms and facilities.

* A plan for emergency supplies and disaster preparation.

* A districtwide data processing program to install terminals at individual schools that feed into a main computer at district headquarters.

* Assessment of surplus property the district owns.

Sampieri said he expects to be in Chicago by mid-February. The job will reunite him with Ted Kimbrough, an associate from two previous jobs. Kimbrough took over as superintendent of the Chicago school district last Monday.

Sampieri worked for 3 1/2 years as assistant superintendent in the Compton Unified School District, where Kimbrough was superintendent. For 26 years before that, he worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District, where Kimbrough was also an administrator.

Sampieri has been at Pasadena since 1986, earning an $83,280 annual salary as deputy superintendent for personnel and business services at the 21,500-student district. Pasadena Unified has a $126-million annual budget.

Pursel said Sampieri’s job will probably remain open until a new superintendent is appointed in Pasadena.