Every Sunday, “Back in the Day” looks at an article that ran on this date in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The items are verbatim, so don’t blame us today for yesteryear’s bad grammar.

A proposal to increase the price of school lunches by 5 cents today ran into opposition from the State president of Hawaii’s parent teacher associations.

And Mrs. A. Jack Woods, PTA Congress president, had some uncomplimentary things to say about the lunches themselves.

She said she opposes an increase in the lunch prices because “the quality of the food at the present time does not justify the increase.”

She added:

“I really feel that there would be a great deal of opposition from the parents because, using the slang of teen-agers, the lunches are really ‘lousy.’”

Mrs. Woods’ comments came when she was asked about a Department of Education proposal to increase school lunch prices to 30 cents for students and 55 cents for teachers.

School officials have recommended the increases to the Board of Education.

Mrs. Woods said she is “amazed at the large quantity of food swept into the garbage can” at the intermediate and high school levels.

Her view was not shared by Mrs. Wayne McNicoll, a Big Island PTA vice president. Mrs. McNicoll said the lunches are a better bargain than the educational curriculum.

“If we get the same quality in education as we do in the lunches, we’ll be all right,” she said.

“I can’t see where five cents would have any adverse effect on anyone. I can’t get very alarmed about five cents.

“I think we should pay for education. Unfortunately, all they ask for us to pay for are the school lunches and the buses,” she said.

A report prepared by Koichi H. Tokushige, DOE assistant superintendent, said the price increase would cover anticipated deficits in the serving of school lunches, which cost 49.2 cents each last year, not including the cost of capital equipment and construction.

Last year’s deficit was $294,944.

The upcoming school year is expected to produce a deficit of $349,398, the report said. This could again be covered by a subsidy, the report said. But it recommended the price increase before the schools open next month.