The argument is that my classroom door is a fire door, designed to stop the spread of fire and smoke. By propping it open, I am depriving it of its existential purpose. The fire marshal said that it would only be acceptable to have the door held open by a magnetic release that is tied to the fire/smoke sensing system.
I call BS. First, I don't keep the door propped if I am not in the room. I am entirely prepared, and I dare say even qualified, to remove the door stop in the case of an emergency. Second, the true purpose of fire doors in public buildings is to provide a corridor of escape by containing fires to the section of the building where they occur (I'm look at you, science wing). We have no such divisions in our hallways. My classroom's fire door would only serve in this capacity if the fire were to be in my room to begin with.
Meanwhile, there are quite valid reasons to keep my classroom door propped open. I'll start with the biggest one: I do not feel comfortable being alone in a room with a student, even students I trust--male or female, with the door shut. I'll let you work out why. Second, the continual opening and shutting of the door through the class period for late arriving students, passes, visitors, etc. is a distraction to me and many of my students. Third, our heating system is not optimal; keeping the door propped at the beginning of this school year was a must for air flow not just for me, but for the teachers with interior, windowless classrooms. Fourth, students tend to unlock my door when I keep it closed so they have less trouble coming in when on a pass; this then becomes a security issue. Fifth, with my door shut--especially before or after school--students don't know if I am available or even in the building. Sixth, during passing time, we are supposed to be out in the hallways; keeping the door shut would either mean leaving the students in my room completely unsupervised or not allowing students in my room until the bell rings.
Unfortunately, even though I feel one level of safety trumps the other, my generally lawful nature and deep-seeded Catholic guilt are going to gnaw at me for those times (before school, after school, when I am alone with a student, or when I am out in the hall) that I plan to have my door propped.