When requested to do so by the Governor, the board of education of any local school administrative unit is authorized and directed to furnish a sufficient number of school buses to the North Carolina State Defense Militia or the North Carolina National Guard for the purpose of transporting members of the State defense militia or members of the North Carolina National Guard to and from authorized places of encampment, or to and from places to which members of the State defense militia or members of the North Carolina National Guard are ordered to proceed for the purpose of suppressing riots or insurrections, repelling invasions or dealing with any other emergency. Public school buses so furnished by any local school administrative unit to the State defense militia or the North Carolina National Guard shall be operated by members or employees of the State defense militia or North Carolina National Guard, and all expense of such operation, including any repair or replacement of any bus occasioned by such operation, shall be paid by the State from the appropriations available for the use of the State defense militia or the North Carolina National Guard. ?(1955, c. 1372, art. 21, s. 12; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1999-456, s. 33(e); 2009-281, s. 1; 2011-183, s. 77.)