The Rochester City School District will be offering free home internet to eligible high school students starting this fall.

Students without reliable web access in grades 9-12 will take home Chromebooks issued by the district. The funding for the hardware is by the 1Million Project Foundation, an education-based non-profit.

Interim Superintendent Dan Lowengard said while the district has bridged the digital divide in the school, it can remain a problem outside school walls. 

"Even in an extended day, they're with us seven, eight hours, maybe nine. But they're home most of the time, so this project where our high school kids will have internet access 24 hours a day is truly amazing," Lowengard said.

The Chromebooks will have filters in place to screen out inappropriate content.

The district estimates about 8,000 of its students will be impacted by the program.