Blake Warner v. School Board of Hillsborough County, Florida

── Blake Warner v. School Board of Hillsborough County, Florida ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: June 03, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-11376 Document: 29-1 Date Filed: 06/03/2026 Page: 1 of 22 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-11376 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ BLAKE WARNER, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus SCHOOL BOARD OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA, Defendant-Appellee. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 8:23-cv-00181-SDM-LSG ____________________ Before LAGOA, ABUDU, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 25-11376 Document: 29-1 Date Filed: 06/03/2026 Page: 2 of 22 2 Opinion of the Court 25-11376 Blake Warner appeals the dismissal of his claims against the School Board of Hillsborough County (“School Board”) alleging vi- olations of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601, and Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This appeal asks us to determine whether a re- lease clause and agreement not to sue clause in a settlement agree- ment from a prior action (“Settlement Agreement” or the “Agree- ment”) were enforceable, whether those clauses barred Warner’s claims, and whether Warner’s fundamental right to direct his child’s education was violated when he could not enroll his child in a public school that was below capacity. After careful consideration of the record, we conclude that the Settlement Agreement’s terms barred Warner from raising his Equal Protection and Fair Housing Act claims, we conclude that Warner’s Due Process claim fails as a matter of the law, and we affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Warner is an African-American resident of Hillsborough County and a registered voter in the county since 2016. Hills- borough County is broken up into five districts. Warner lived in District 1 until late 2022 but moved to District 3 because of rising housing costs. Warner currently lives with his minor child, J.W., in District 3 and at the time Warner’s operative complaint was filed, J.W. was a fifth-grade student. In Hillsborough County, the School Board draws school as- signment maps for its residents. The school that children attend is USCA11 Case: 25-11376 Document: 29-1 Date Filed: 06/03/2026 Page: 3 of 22 25-11376 Opinion of the Court 3 based on where they live, even if the assigned school is not the clos- est. For example, J.W. is assigned to Hill Middle School1 but Car- rollwood public school is geographically closer to him. The re- verse is also true: some students assigned to Carrollwood public school geographically live closer to Hill Middle School. In addition, the performance ratings and enrollment at schools are not uniform across Hillsborough County. For example, Carrollwood public school is an A-rated school with a lower minority enrollment than Hill Middle School, which is a lower-rated school with a majority- minority student body. On January 26, 2023, Warner, proceeding pro se, sued the Sch