Consulting firms often deliver data and/or analysis necessary to justify organizational changes of strategy or direction. The B12 hiring a consulting firm tells me that Boren's call for change has traction and the B12 is looking for cover to make difficult but controversial decisions in a public and political environment. It also would provide a way for school presidents that previously opposed expansion to change their mind due to "objective data".
I know that there are other reasons to bring in a consultant, but I have to believe that Boren would not agree to keep quiet unless he felt that the consultant was a means of at least providing more data and more likely as a means to bring about the changes Boren is seeking.