Maclay School and its former head lacrosse coach are being sued by a parent on behalf of a student, alleging physical and mental abuse during the 2024-25 school year.
The complaint, filed May 1 in Leon County Circuit Court, was obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat.
The mother of an unnamed student is accusing the school and William Justin VanTassel of negligence, inflicting emotional distress and battery. VanTassel was hired at Maclay in 2019 and was named the All Big Bend Lacrosse Coach of the Year in 2021 and 2025 by the Tallahassee Democrat, according to previous reporting.
The complaint alleges the student was enrolled during the 2024-25 school year and was a member of the lacrosse team when he faced the abuse.
“Although Plaintiff’s parents were unaware of the physical abuse until April 2026, they were aware of Defendant VanTassel’s treatment of Plaintiff being extreme and unprofessional during the 2024-2025 academic year,” says the complaint by the parent, who is represented by Tallahassee attorney Ryan Hobbs of Brooks, LeBoeuf, Foster Gwartney and Hobbs.
A complaint in a lawsuit tells only one side of a story. The Democrat reached out to VanTassel and has not heard back.
“While we are unable to comment on pending legal matters, we want to emphasize that we take all allegations seriously. The safety and well-being of our community remain our highest priorities, and we are committed to handling any concerns with care, integrity, and in accordance with all appropriate policies and procedures,” the school said in a statement sent May 4 to the Democrat.
The student said he was physically assaulted by VanTassel on two separate occasions during the 2024-25 school year. During one instance, “VanTassel angrily grabbed Plaintiff by his chest pad and shoved him backwards while yelling at him,” according to the complaint.
Also, VanTassel “grabbed his face guard and forcefully shook his head back and forth; and slapped him across his head while he was wearing his helmet,” the suit says.
The parents held a meeting with Meredith Locasto, the school’s athletic director, and VanTassel, in hopes of stopping the behavior, the complaint says, but no corrective action was taken. The student has since transferred to another school.
Following that meeting, the suit says VanTassel entered false and negative statistics of the student’s athletic performance on MaxPreps, a national online platform used to store high school athletic records for the purpose of college recruiting.
The lawsuit also says the reports were later corrected by MaxPreps after the parents approached school administrators of the perceived retaliation.
While VanTassel is no longer listed as the lacrosse head coach, he was still on the school’s website as of May 4 as a U.S. history teacher, director of the school’s business and entrepreneurship academy and junior class advisor.
Alaijah Cross covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at abrown@tallahassee.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Maclay School, former coach, facing lawsuit over alleged ‘physical abuse’
Reporting by Alaijah Cross, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
