In Sweden, the local schoolboard has the ultimate responsibility forschool quality and student knowledge development, and is heldresponsible if the expected outcomes are not met. Assisting theboard is the superintendent who is the Chief Executive Officer. Theaim of the study is to investigate the board’s relation to andexpectations of the superintendent, and this article is a result ofa national investigation in which all schoolboard chairs were surveyed.Two main questions were addressed: 1) what expectationsdoes the local schoolboard have of the superintendent, both ingeneral and in relation to student achievements and 2) which tasksare the superintendents expected to prioritise in carrying out theirwork? Data have been collected through a web-based survey usingboth structured and open-ended questions. The results show thatthe schoolboards’ strongest expectations placed on superintendentsare to execute the leadership mission followed by managingthe organisation within allocated budget frames. Responsibilitiesfor academic outcomes have a lower ranking. Superintendentshave many opportunities to influence the schoolboards’ decisionsand thereby affect which goals they should prioritise in the localschool organisation. The superintendent is an invisible ruler who inthe chain of governance occupies the best position to influenceboth the schoolboard’s acting policy and the schools’ acting practice.By being aware of the existing asymmetric distribution ofpower, the schoolboard has the opportunity to exercise controlover its official whose legal responsibility is to assist its membersin their decision makings.