Elverum updates SFO rules on hours, admissions and cooperation committees

Elverum kommune has amended its regulation on municipal school leisure-time arrangements (SFO), updating opening hours, admission criteria and the cooperation committee. The change was adopted by the Elverum kommunestyre on 29 April 2026 and published in Norsk Lovtidend (Avd. II, regional and local regulations) on 20 August 2026, entering into force on 1 August 2026.

The amendment is issued under section 4-5 of the opplæringslova (Education Act, law 9 June 2023 nr. 30) and modifies the earlier regulation of 20 June 2024 nr. 1592 on municipal school leisure-time arrangements for Elverum kommune, Innlandet. It touches every family with children in the municipality’s SFO, which serves pupils in the first four years of primary school and children with special needs in grades 5–7.

Opening hours

The SFO follows the school year and opens on 1 August. It is open every day except Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and the Wednesday before Maundy Thursday, and it closes for four consecutive weeks in July, normally weeks 27–30.

• Daily normal opening hours are 07:00–17:00.
• The SFO is closed up to five days a year for staff planning days, at the discretion of the school owner.
• During periods of low attendance, such as school holidays, the school owner must coordinate operations so that at least one SFO in the municipality stays open, with all children offered a place there.
• Each individual SFO runs at its own unit at the start of the new school year in August.

Admission and stay time

Children in grades 1–4, and children with special needs in grades 5–7, have a right to a place in the SFO after applying. Parents may apply for either a part-time or a full-time place, and the child has a right to the type of place the parents apply for.

• An SFO place begins on the first day of the month.
• If a place is applied for after the first of the month, the family pays for stay and food for the entire month.

Cooperation committee

Each primary school has a cooperation committee (samarbeidsutvalg) with the right to express its opinion in all matters concerning the SFO. The school may also call special parent meetings for the school leisure-time arrangement.

The revised regulation gives parents a clearer statutory right to choose between part-time and full-time care, and it clarifies the municipality’s duty to keep at least one SFO open even during school holidays. For families in Elverum, the new rules take effect from the start of the 2026–2027 school year.

Source: Norsk Lovtidend, Avd. II, 20 August 2026 (official reference: 29.04.2026 nr. 1645).