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Even as the Toronto District School Board was complaining about school funding changes, board officials were going ahead with a contract to spend more than $5 million buying new high-end iPhone handsets.

The contract proposal was only cancelled last Thursday.

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That was after the school board had already talked about laying off teachers and warned that classes would have to be cut.

There was no money we were told.

Turns out Premier Doug Ford was right and the board could find savings elsewhere.

Let me be clear, the contract proposal I am about to describe could only happen in government.

According to a copy of the request for proposals (RFP) sent to companies looking to bid, the board wanted a whole new wireless contract for voice, data and text services complete with the new handsets.

The RFP showed the board was looking to purchase more than 4,000 brand new iPhones for administrators, the vast majority of them the high-end iPhone XS or XS Max valued at as much as $1,519 per handset.