abc 7 reporter leanne melendez joining us now on a busy day of decision making for the governor. >> that was a long press conference. now many school districts were hoping for this mandate because it puts the burden off of them. now, here's oakland unified, for example, which had 3:55 this afternoon send out a press release to say we had already made that decision last friday but now the governor has solidified it. they're basically saying, hey, the governor's got our back. >> the one thing we had the power to do, to get our kids back into school is look at this list again, wear a mask. >> reporter: it was a plea made b the governor to try to reduce the coronavirus surge in california that has now forced many schools to go back to distance learning. until now districts were deciding how to reopen schools putting them in an awkward position with parents and teachers. newsom took on that responsibility issuing a new mandate. >> schools can physically open for in-person education when the county that they're operating in has been off our monitoring list for 14 consecutive days. >> reporter:

abc 7 news reporter leanne yann melendez looks closer at what teachers could face. >> reporter: whener calls in sick the first consideration is who will take their place. >> my primary concern before covid in terms of calling in sick was that high likely hood there would be no substitute available to cover my class. >> reporter: olivia utevik gets ten paid sick days a year. teachers can roll them over. if they contract covid-19 they have to quarantine for at least 14 days. >> i think unlimited sick days during this time is going to be critical. we cannot have any staff members feeling pressured to come to work if they're feeling any symptoms. >> reporter: right now, school districts like oakland unified are negotiating with the teachers union new terms specific to covid-19. school districts would not comment on what they are proposing. the question is, where will districts find the extra money for any added paid sick days? >> the educators shouldn't have to pay for it with their sick days. the school district should not have to bear the front of it but the state and federal governmen