URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO RECOGNIZE ROBOTICS AS AN INTERSCHOLASTIC SPORT AND DEDICATE FUNDING TO SUPPORT ROBOTICS PROGRAMS ACROSS THE STATE.

This bill is a House Resolution that urges the Hawaii Department of Education to officially recognize robotics as an interscholastic sport and to allocate state funding to support robotics programs across the state. The resolution highlights that robotics programs currently face challenges due to insufficient resources, a lack of mentors, and inconsistent funding, which has led to the decline of several teams. It calls on the Department of Education to conduct an assessment to determine the appropriate level of fiscal support needed to maintain these programs and directs copies of the resolution to key education officials. The measure does not create new funding but requests the department to evaluate and potentially dedicate existing resources to sustain robotics education initiatives.