COVENTRY — Within days of Donna J. Hayden’s announcement last month that she was stepping down from the School Committee, with nearly 2½ years left in her term, three people declared candidacy for the vacated District 5 seat.

It was generally assumed would be on the November ballot. But the Board of Canvassers, saying the Town Charter is not crystal-clear on the procedure for filling the seat, is awaiting a clarification from the town solicitor before deciding whether to certify the declarations.

Hayden, a Republican who won the four-year term on the school board in 2006, sent a resignation letter on June 13 to board Chairman Raymond E. Spear in which she cited health issues.

By June 25, the deadline for candidacy declarations for the coming elections, three people had announced for her seat: Democrat Michael G. Reeves, the District 5 incumbent Hayden defeated in 2006; Republican John Mullaney III and Lisa P. Tomasso, a political independent.

The Town Charter states that a special election shall be held for a school board seat that becomes vacant at least six months prior to the next election. The question that has arisen in some officials’ minds is whether that should be taken literally — in which case the Town Council would simply fill the seat — or whether the charter means six months prior to November 2010, when Hayden’s term expires.

“I’m waiting for an official decision from the solicitor,” said Board of Canvassers Chairman Francis J. Perry. Town Solicitor Patrick J. Sullivan said in a brief telephone interview yesterday that the matter is complex. He said Assistant Town Solicitor Fred Tobin, who is also the school board’s legal counsel, would review the charter’s language and issue an opinion this week.

Republican Town Committee Chairman Charles Vacca said the Democrat-controlled Town Council should let the voters fill the seat in November.

“This is just another example of the Town Council taking things out of the hands of the voters,” Vacca said. “They are just doing things on their own and making decisions contrary to policy or what’s in the charter.”

Council Vice President Bruce Thompson said the council’s course of action will hinge on the solicitor’s legal opinion.

Tomasso, the announced independent candidate for the board, could not be reached for direct comment. She stated in an e-mail that she was told by town officials her declaration would not be accepted. She alleged a “flagrant violation of the Town Charter.”

Spear, the School Committee chairman — who is running as a Republican for the District 1 council seat —agreed with Tomasso.

“I don’t think that it was intention of the charter to give the authority to the Town Council to appoint people for 2 plus years on the School Committee,” Spear said. “They are denying the right of the electorate … to elect their own candidate.”

Democratic Town Chairman Kevin McGee said he wasn’t even sure Hayden’s seat was open but that he urged Reeves, at the last minute, to file declaration papers.

“We heard that the Board of Canvassers had accepted papers from an independent and a Republican. [We filed] in case they trying to pull something,” McGee said.

lsparks@projo.com