Massachusetts communities embarking on ambitious school construction projects are facing a new and frustrating challenge: international trade tariffs that are inflating costs and threatening already-tight budgets.

In Watertown, the city is in the midst of building what is being hailed as the most environmentally friendly high school in the United States. But the project is hitting turbulence due to unexpected price hikes — especially on solar panels sourced from China.

“It’s a major headache, it’s a major, major headache,” said Mark Sideris, president of the Watertown City Council.

Sideris explained that tariffs on Chinese solar panels could nearly triple their cost. “The solar panels were approximately $1 million, round numbers. If there was a 145% tariff, we would go to $2.45 million, which completely blows up the budget,” he said.

The high school’s design includes significant sustainability features, including solar power, but the steep tariff — part of a broader federal effort to protect domestic manufacturers — has thrown a wrench into those green ambitions. Now, city leaders are scrambling to find alternative suppliers from countries not subject to the same trade penalties.

“They may not be able to give us our panels, and they may not be able to give us panels in time to open for April 26 potential opening,” Sideris warned.

Meanwhile, students have already been displaced from their traditional classrooms. For the past three years, they’ve attended school in modular classrooms, eagerly anticipating the opening of the new facility in April 2026.

“I think any delay for any reason would be disappointing, but that’s mainly because we’re just excited to see the new building,” said Watertown High School Principal Joel Giacobozzi.

But Watertown isn’t the only community grappling with these cost spikes. In Franklin, the Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School is also under construction to replace an aging campus. There, a steel shipment from Canada set to arrive in two weeks has been hit with an unanticipated 25% tariff — adding nearly $2 million to the project's cost.

“If we need more money, it’s a problem,” said Brian Mushnick, chairman of the school’s building committee. “I can’t go back to the stakeholders and say it’s the tariffs, we need $8 million more.”

The project, already approved by voters in 11 communities, was carefully budgeted with little flexibility for surprise costs. “It makes us very nervous. Very, very nervous,” Mushnick added.

For Watertown, the tariff troubles are only just beginning. After the high school is complete, the city plans to move forward with a new middle school. But even creating a budget for that has become an uncertain task.

“It’s impossible to price it, because we don’t know what tariffs are going to do when we’re ready to build it potentially in the next year or so,” said Sideris.

While the tariffs are part of a broader geopolitical strategy to counter economic competition from countries like China and to protect U.S. industries, local officials say their communities are unfairly paying the price. With school budgets set years in advance and backed by voter-approved funding, there is little room to adapt to dramatic swings in global trade policy.

“These communities say they’ve made a promise to their students,” the report concludes, “and they don’t want it broken by the uncertain math of tariffs.”

Originally reported by Beth Germano in CBS News.