This qualitative inquiry investigated the perceptions of the roles of school board presidents and superintendents with regard to governance and administration in select Chicago, Illinois, Suburban School Districts. The selection criteria were school board presidents and school superintendents who hold these positions in several Chicago, Illinois, Suburban school districts. Eight individuals were interviewed for this study. There were four school board presidents and four school superintendents. Six themes emerged from the interview questions. The six themes were communication, relationships, training, personal agendas, crossing the line/micromanagement, and responsibility. The investigation pointed out that schools cannot function at peak levels as long as the roles, duties, and responsibilities of the board president and the school superintendent are not clearly defined and understood by each of these leaders in the school system. A disregard for these roles can handicap the superintendent as an educational leader, the position he was hired to carry out. The investigations by the researcher lead him to determine initially that the perceptions held by these leaders were often misinterpreted. If this had been the case, educating the board president would have been all that was necessary; however, the interviews revealed the opposite. Both the board presidents and the school superintendents understood and accepted the same interpretations of the roles and duties of each. However, the board presidents disregarded them nonetheless. It is important for current and aspiring school superintendents to remember that the goal of most, if not all, school superintendents is to increase and/or maintain high levels of academic standards and achievement for students. In order to achieve the aforementioned, school superintendents must remain in place as the leaders of the school system. Therefore, it is imperative that school superintendents cultivate and maintain positive relationships with their school board presidents. Finally, failure on the part of aspiring and current superintendents to remember the previously referenced may result in the school board president choosing to exercise his/her considerable influence over his/her fellow school board members to remove the school superintendent. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]