D.C. school officials are investigating whether they spent about $7.7 million to send 118 special-education students to private schools who they were never responsible for to begin with.

Under federal law, the District must pay to send special-education students whose needs aren’t served by their neighborhood schools elsewhere, often to private school. Between tuition and transportation — school buses regularly transport students to Baltimore and further — the average cost per student is $65,000 each year.