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The cash-strapped Toronto public school board could be hiring a fine-art curator for its multimillion-dollar collection.

But trustee Josh Matlow says with cuts to education assistant positions and school pools still slated for closure, now is not the time to be hiring an art curator.

A motion to the board's program and school services committee today recommends the board create an art collection advisory committee by September and hire an "experienced fine-art curator" for one year at a $75,000 salary to help staff with the board's approximately 7,000 paintings.

PRESERVATION PROJECT

Trustee and artist Gary Crawford is putting forward the motion and has been closely involved with the preservation project so far.

Crawford couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

What's on the TDSB's walls or in safe storage?

About 20 are "top-tier" paintings worth more than $100,000 apiece -- one of them a Tom Thomson, which the artist sold to Riverdale Collegiate and is now worth $1.5 million.

The board has paintings to represent every member of Canada's famous Group of Seven.

BAD TIME

While he supports maintaining the board's art collection, Matlow said the board shouldn't be filling a new position.

"We're not even spending that much on a youth worker to support youth at risk right now," Matlow said.

"This isn't the time to hire new people to focus on our art collection.

"It's not the responsible way to spend dollars, especially now."

The St. Paul's trustee said the board is facing a deficit of up to $26 million.

To see this story, visit:Board plan to hire art curator ripped