A multimillion-dollar computer system brought in to help save D.C.’s failing special education program doesn’t work with existing school software, and city officials are scrambling to account for thousands of vital records ahead of a crucial audit, The Examiner has learned.

Earlier this year, the District signed a $4.2 million contract with the Public Consulting Group for help in organizing thousands of chaotically stored special education files and tracking federal deadlines for updating those files. But e-mails obtained by The Examiner show that the group’s computer tracking system isn’t compatible with the system’s enrollment database.