PITTSBURG, Kan. — As the federal program for free school lunches expired in June, area schools plan to return to pre-COVID-19 guidelines and begin charging for meals. The universal free school meal program was initially introduced in March 2020 when the pandemic began as a federal grant program that provided money for free school lunches for all students. While the program has ended, President Joe Biden signed the Keep Kids Fed Act on June 25 to help mitigate the impact of the loss of the child nutrition waivers due that was set to expire on June 30.