PHOTO BY DEAN OLSEN
Springfield resident Sarah Williamson, 41, mother of a second-grader in the Rochester school district, asked the School Board at its April 19 meeting for information about its investigation into employee Bill Bauser’s conduct. The board fired Bauser later in the meeting. Bauser wasn’t present.
The pair said they and other parents of children who received communications from Power sent their written complaints to a Springfield Theatre Centre email in 2018, but expressed frustration that Bauser and other members of the STC executive board did not inform the full board of the allegations against Power.
Bauser later asked Power to be vocal director of an STC musical, Annie Get Your Gun, in late 2019, without consulting other board members. At that time, Bauser was the STC board's executive director and treasurer. Both positions were volunteer.
Complaints from parents then led the full board to remove Power from Annie Get Your Gun, and Hoogland Executive Director Gus Gordon said he immediately notified the Hoogland board, which banned Power from the building. STC board members then asked for, and received, Bauser's resignation from the board in December 2019.
COURTESY MENARD COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT
Adam Power