Saint Thomas Academy and Visitation students live in over 45 different school districts within Minnesota and Wisconsin.
If your student does not attend a school within the district in which you reside, you may be entitled to transportation reimbursement. Every district handles this issue differently; some districts reimburse while others do not reimburse (i.e., Minneapolis). Some districts send the reimbursement to your home (i.e., Eagan), while other districts (i.e., Edina) send one check to STA and Visitation (a check is subsequently issued to the family in the fall). School district reimbursements for VISTA riders will be applied toward our transportation costs, as stated in the bus contract.
Both Saint Thomas Academy and Visitation are located in District 197, which includes Mendota Heights, West Saint Paul and parts of Eagan and Inver Grove Heights.
As this is an issue fundamentally between the school district and taxpayer, it is the parent/guardian's responsibility to contact his or her respective district in order to receive any potential district transportation reimbursement. Forms should be on your public school district website.
Please be aware that STA and Visitation provide each district with a “compulsory list” of students (in the fall) plus an “attendance sheet” (in the spring) for the number of days (the academic year is 175 days) that your student attended school for the year.