## Facts

- Treena Muller was born in Thailand in 1977 and lived in an orphanage until age four, when Henry and Catherine Muller adopted her and brought her to the United States.
- At adoption, Treena had very limited verbal ability and spoke neither English nor Thai, and she began having learning and communication problems once she entered the East Islip Union Free School District.
- In the early grades, Treena repeated first grade and was classified as speech impaired; she received special-education services for several years and later continued receiving remedial reading assistance.
- As Treena approached high school, her academic performance declined, and she failed multiple courses while also showing increasing behavioral difficulties.
- Treena advanced to ninth grade on schedule; although her grades improved briefly, she developed serious behavior problems, including poor attendance, cutting classes, and persistent conflict at home.
- In January 1993, after a confrontation with her parents, Treena attempted suicide and was admitted to a private psychiatric treatment facility.
- Mental-health providers diagnosed Treena with conditions including conduct disorder and depression, and she received psychiatric care and counseling.
- After discharge, Treena attended private therapeutic programs, including a residential school serving students with significant psychological and behavioral needs.
- Treena responded well in the structured therapeutic setting and showed measurable progress behaviorally and academically.
- The Mullers asked the District to fund Treena’s private placement and to classify her as eligible for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) based on emotional disability/serious emotional disturbance.
- The District’s Commission on Special Education determined that Treena was not IDEA-eligible; an Impartial Hearing Officer and a State Review Officer upheld the determination.
- The Mullers sued in federal district court, which set aside the administrative rulings, ordered the District to classify Treena as emotionally disabled under the IDEA, and awarded monetary relief and attorneys’ fees; the District appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Treena qualified as a “child with a disability” under the IDEA as a child with a “serious emotional disturbance” under federal and New York regulatory definitions.
2. Whether the district court properly rejected the administrative officers’ eligibility determinations when reviewing the IDEA record.
3. Whether the remedies ordered by the district court—including reimbursement/compensatory monetary relief and attorneys’ fees—were available based on the District’s failure to provide IDEA services.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment.
- The court held that the record supported the conclusion that Treena met the regulatory definition of serious emotional disturbance (manifested over a long period and to a marked degree, with an adverse effect on educational performance).
- The court agreed that the district court could set aside the administrative conclusions where they reflected legal error or an incorrect application of the regulatory standard to the evidence.
- The court affirmed the district court’s remedial orders, including monetary relief tied to the parents’ private placement and attorneys’ fees.

## Legal Principles

- A student qualifies as having a “serious emotional disturbance” under IDEA regulations when qualifying characteristics (such as pervasive depression or an inability to learn not explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors) are shown over a long period of time and to a marked degree, and the condition adversely affects educational performance.
- “Adverse effect on educational performance” may be shown through functional school impact, including chronic failure, truancy, and inability to benefit from general education without special education and related services; it is not defeated solely by intermittent grade improvement.
- In IDEA judicial review, district courts must give “due weight” to administrative proceedings, but they are not bound by administrative legal interpretations and may independently determine whether the governing statutory and regulatory standards were correctly applied.
- When a school district has not provided required IDEA services and parents obtain an appropriate private placement, courts may award reimbursement or other compensatory monetary relief consistent with IDEA’s remedial framework.
- Parents who prevail in IDEA litigation may recover reasonable attorneys’ fees as authorized by the statute.

## Conclusion

The Second Circuit affirmed the federal district court’s determination that Treena Muller’s long-standing emotional and behavioral conditions met the IDEA’s serious emotional disturbance criteria and materially impaired her educational functioning, and it upheld the order requiring IDEA classification along with monetary relief and attorneys’ fees after the District’s administrative process wrongly denied eligibility.


Muller v. Commission on Special Education of East Islip Union Free School District, 145 F.3d 95 (1988)