(a) On the same day that he submits the budget to the board of education, the superintendent shall file a copy of it in his office where it shall remain available for public inspection until the budget resolution is adopted. He may also publish a statement in a newspaper qualified under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-597 to publish legal advertisements in the county that the budget has been submitted to the board of education, and is available for public inspection in the office of the superintendent of schools. The statement should also give notice of the time and place of the budget hearing authorized by subsection (b) of this section.

(b) Before submitting the budget to the board of county commissioners, the board of education may hold a public hearing at which time any persons who wish to be heard on the school budget may appear. (1975, c. 437, s. 1; 1981, c. 423, s. 1.)