GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Both sides are speaking out after the decision came this week to terminate embattled Green Bay East varsity football coach and staff member Niko Sila.
Following nearly five hours of discussion, accusations and emotional testimony, the Green Bay Area Public Schools (GBAPS) Board of Education accepted the district’s recommendation of termination Wednesday.
The board voted 5-2 in favor of firing Sila after the district brought forth three allegations against him.
Those allegations: the intentional falsification of student attendance records, the unauthorized transport of district students in Sila’s personal vehicle and Sila’s refusal to comply with investigatory policies.
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A statement provided to NBC 26 by Board of Education President James Lyerly reads, “After reviewing the evidence, I found the charges to be just cause for termination and I believe them to be true.”
Board member Alex Mineau, who voted against termination, said board members kept an open mind throughout deliberation, though he “strongly” disagreed with the board’s decision.
“The information that was shared with us, in my view, it did not rise to the level of termination,” Mineau said.
Allegation 1: Falsification of attendance records
Over a 40-day period this year, from September 5 to October 15, a report presented by GBAPS Legal Counsel Melissa Thiel Collar showed Sila made changes to 145 student attendance entries at the benefit of, primarily, players on his team.
“If Mr. Sila was in fact under the belief that in his role as Manager of Student Engagement, Attendance and Advocacy, he was to alter attendance codes, the changes to attendance codes would not be hyper concentrated for members of the East High football team,” explained Thiel Collar.
Spokespeople for Sila countered that the changes were manual corrections necessitated by a faulty attendance-taking system that inaccurately reports student absences.
“The charge around attendance hinges on a single word: ‘intentional.’ Yet, nothing in the record supports that claim of intent,” said Stephanie Ortiz, who presented evidence in support of Sila at Wednesday’s meeting.
The district claimed that Sila’s attendance entries allowed students who skipped class to play in varsity football games, when their absences should have rendered them ineligible.
Thiel Collar said two East High varsity games, one on September 5 and another October 3, will have to be forfeited from the record due to ineligible players competing. East High won both games.
Ortiz claimed the investigation misrepresented Sila’s accountability in record keeping by presenting only a small window of data.
“This narrow slice ignores three years of consistent patterns,” Ortiz said.
Allegation 2: Unauthorized transport of district students
In 2024, Sila secured preliminary approval from East High Principal Lisa Lipp to transport students in his personal vehicle, but despite several reminders, he never completed a necessary background check or vehicle inspection.
Sila continued to transport students home, defending the decision as one made in the interest of student safety.
“At 8, 9 or even 10 o’clock at night, I am not thinking about policy language,” Sila said at Wednesday’s meeting. “I’m thinking about the safety of our student athletes. When a player has no way home, I am the coach who makes sure that child gets home safe."
The district called it a “reckless” act:
“To overlook his conduct, to excuse his behavior and allow him to remain employed is not only irresponsible, it is inherently dangerous,” stated Thiel Collar.
She furthered that the district acknowledges Sila “has done a number of positive and good things” but that those acts don’t absolve him of policy violations.
Allegation 3: Refusal to comply with investigatory polices
When an investigation into Sila’s conduct began last month, he was ordered not to communicate with members of the school district.
Sila told board members he did not initiate contact with members of his team throughout the investigation, but he did reply to emotional players when they reached out to him.
“There was absolutely no malicious intent,” said Sila Wednesday. “You cannot prove that I acted with malicious intent in any of the allegations brought against me.”
Sila’s team presented five reasons for his reinstatement, including that a lack of training and systemic failures within the district were to blame for the allegations against him.
The district replied that termination was the only acceptable course forward, as progressive discipline could not be applied to Sila’s case.
“The issue before you is not one of emotion,” Thiel Collar told the board. “This case is about whether an employee of the district can knowingly, repeatedly and willfully ignore the Board of Education policies, state laws and directives and still expect to keep their job.”
What’s next for Sila
Following Wednesday night’s decision, Sila told NBC 26 he intends to start a youth mentoring program in the city, and that come Spring, he will run for school board.
“What’s next for me is to continue to uplift our community and our students in it. I can never change who I am,” Sila said.
He called on members of the East High community to support students as they process the news of his termination.
