UNION, W.Va. (AP) -- An assistant state fire marshal who cited a Monroe County teacher for having her classroom door propped open with a rubber doorstop has dropped the charge.
Sixth-grade teacher Susanna Robinson had been set to appear Tuesday morning in Monroe County Magistrate Court to face a charge of violating fire safety rules. She faced a potential fine of up to $1,000 and up to 90 days in jail.
Assistant Fire Marshal Charles Vanatter retracted the charge on Wednesday without giving a reason.
Robinson teaches at Mountain View Elementary and Middle School in Union and used the doorstop to prop open her classroom door to keep the room from being too hot. Vanatter says the door should remain closed because the corridor wall that contains the door is a smoke partition. The door must be able to close if there is a fire to hinder the spread of smoke.
The school built in 1999 has windows that do not open.
Vanatter had confiscated the door stop on Nov. 9 when he issued the citation but returned it to the school on Wednesday.
Monroe County schools Superintendent Lyn Guy defended Vanatter on Thursday. ``I was as surprised as anybody else that a citation was issued, but I think he's been painted as the devil incarnate, and I think he was just doing his job.''
Robinson said she will no longer prop her door open now that she knows it's against the law, but she acknowledged that it has been very hot in the classroom at times. One of Robinson's students, who wrote a letter in support of his teacher, compared the classroom to ``a volcano'' when the door is closed.
