Three families who sued a private Plymouth preschool for alleged misconduct and child neglect have settled their cases against the school and its owner under undisclosed terms.
They alleged a teacher at Starboard Academy traumatized toddlers in her care by yelling at them and physically forcing them onto cots during nap time if they weren’t asleep.
The owner of the for-profit company was informed of at least one troubling incident and covered it up, the families charged.
The terms of the settlements are confidential, but the families sought money damages for medical expenses as well as for injuries, pain and suffering.
Two lawsuits remain against the school, which was the subject of scathing state investigations in 2024.
A mother still involved in the lawsuit said she cannot settle her case “for her own peace of mind.”
“This case needs to be heard in a courtroom,” said the mother, who asked not to be named. “For our family, this feels like the necessary course. And for the community, I believe it is the right one…If this can happen to our family, it can happen to anyone.”
Investigators found the teacher terrified young children by repeatedly screaming at them and handling them roughly.
The investigators, from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, in September 2024 found the school stonewalled, dissembled, and delayed efforts by the state to investigate the allegations, according to documents obtained by the Plymouth Independent.
In addition to the Plymouth location, Starboard Academy operates several schools, including two on Cape Cod and one in Marshfield.
At the end of 2025, the company was sold to Stellar Education LLC, which said it had bought the company’s assets. But the name of the former owner, Tonya Stump, still appears on some locations’ corporate records. Her daughter is listed on Starboard Academy’s website as its vice president of administration and strategy.
Neither Stump, who is a defendant in the lawsuits, nor her lawyer responded to a request for comment on the settlements. They have denied the allegations and have disputed the findings of the state reports.
Three of the suits in Plymouth Superior Court were filed in September 2024 and two more were filed in January 2025.
All allege young children were terrorized by former teacher Jessica Taylor, who allegedly flipped one child on a nap cot, and told another — “shut the f-up,” according to one of the lawsuits.
The details are slightly different, but in each case the parents allege their children — one or two years old — were scared of Taylor. Neither the parents nor the children are identified in the lawsuits. All the children have since left the school.
In the three settled suits, parents alleged their children’s behavior changed dramatically after being in Taylor’s classroom. They became distressed, unwell or clingy at drop-off time, the suits allege.
One child came home with bruised hips and groin. The child would wake up in the middle of the night crying uncontrollably.
Once the children left the school, their behavior improved, the suits say.
Three lawsuits were filed a few months after the state Department of Early Education and Care – which oversees 9,000 programs for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers – issued a blistering report on Taylor’s alleged misconduct in May 2024.
The agency launched an investigation in April 2024 after another teacher reported seeing Taylor pick up a toddler lying awake on a nap cot and slam the child down face first.
The child let out a huge screech and began to cry, the witness told investigators. Taylor allegedly shoved the child’s head into the cot, “shaking (the child) in an aggressive manner,” the teacher said.
When interviewed by state investigators in 2024, Taylor denied being physically aggressive with children. Her lawyers have also denied the allegations.
The teacher who witnessed the incident told investigators she was in tears when she reported it to Stump, who seemed to “brush it off” and chalk it up to the fact Taylor was pregnant, the lawsuits allege.
Stump told investigators she was not made aware of the misconduct when it allegedly happened, according to the EEC report.
In its 13-page report, EEC investigators found the school failed to comply with 11 state regulations, including one prohibiting abuse or neglect, and another requiring schools to report incidents promptly to parents.
According to the lawsuits, the children suffered a range of behavioral issues such as night terrors and uncontrollable crying after being “exposed to the hostile, negative environment in (Taylor’s) classroom.”
Complaints about another teacher surfaced in another state report posted in October 2024.
An investigator found Starboard’s owners “immediately dismissed” allegations a male teacher repeatedly touched a female colleague in front of children and sent explicit photos of his genitals to co-workers, the report alleges.
“The program used terminology and actions to silence employees,” the EEC report said, adding that the employees described their experience with the school’s leaders as “gaslighting.”
“The program was less than forthcoming during the investigation and provided countless misleading and false statements,” wrote the EEC investigator in the report.
Stump objected to the state reports, calling them “inaccurate” and said they “failed to meet regulatory standards,” the state report said.
Those reports vanished from the EEC website when the company was sold and relicensed under a different name, Starboard Academy Plymouth Stellar.
Anyone looking for the reports would now have to file a public records request.
The litigation dragged on and became so “unnecessarily contentious” that in January 2026, Plymouth Superior Court Judge Joseph Leighton ordered the appointment of an outside discovery master to sort out the various disputes among the parties.
The two remaining cases contain some of the most serious allegations — both involving children from Kingston.
One family alleged Taylor intimidated their child by yelling and using profanity — “shut the f-up,” their lawsuit alleges.
The child began to exhibit “extremely concerning behavioral issues” and would “freeze when entering the classroom,” the lawsuit alleges.
In March 2024, the suit charges, the child started to experience “extreme terrors” and would “jump, be in hysterics and have an increased heart rate connected to routine events.”
The child has had to see medical specialists.
The second remaining case involves another Kingston child who was 16 months old when in Taylor’s class.
The child experienced night terrors, didn’t want their diaper changed, refused to go to Taylor at drop-off time and was “extremely hungry and thirsty” when picked up by their parents.
The child was exhausted at pickup time and looked like they had been crying, the lawsuit said.
The settlements now have to be approved by the judge.
The remaining cases are still active.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.