I don't think that was ever the claim that it will never cost the school money to run their computers. The money instead will go to consultants, or some company

I don't think that was ever the claim that it will never cost the school money to run their computers. The money instead will go to consultants, or some company like Collabora that maintains the LibreOffice installation. (Note: Microsoft or Google could easily bid on this consulting work if they wanted)