MSHSL sanctions the state tournament, but only the state tournament. The rest of the season and program is governed by FIRST, and the MSHSL doesn't interfere with that at all. The last I heard, robotics doesn't fall under either the "sport" or "fine arts" umbrellas with MSHSL, so I wouldn't say it is sanctioned "as a sport."
If you are looking for the eligibility guidelines MSHSL uses for robotics students, you can find the robotics-specific eligibility brochure
on this page.
With respect to our school, 2052 is recognized as an activity by Irondale High School. The district has a grant application for any district program that makes it past the state level, and we received it for the first time last year for the FRC championship event. They cover 35% of the student expenses for the trip (we did not include food, we did include lodging and transportation). They don't cover anything for state, but that's largely because there really is no expense to the team for state due to our proximity to the event.