[7] The official school district attendance area includes, in addition to Crane: Diamond, Double-O Ranch, Drewsey, Fields, Frenchglen,[9] Riley,[10] and Suntex.

[15] Crane Union historically served the Denio area, including when the townsite was in Oregon.

[16] The area on the Oregon state line across from Denio is, as of 2020, in the official Crane Union boundary.

[5] As of 2004[update] Denio, Nevada parents with high school aged children may send their children to Crane Union instead of sending them to Albert M. Lowry High School in Winnemucca, Nevada.

[18][19] Students from the surrounding ranches attend Crane Union High School from as far away as 150 miles (240 km).

[7] Jeff LaLande, in an Oregon Historical Society publication made in 2005 and updated in 2014, stated that the school was "comparatively expensive" to operate.

[6] Its current facility, made of cement and steel, opened due to a 1967 fire that ruined the previous building.

[27] Many of the students are alumni of one room schoolhouses and had regularly helped their families with ranch work prior to leaving for high school.

[13] As of 1983[update] it was common for unmarried teachers to teach for one or two years at Crane Union before moving elsewhere in response to the area being isolated.

[29][30] In 1983 the teachers offered extra classes partly because the area had few other activities available, and focusing on teaching was a pastime available.

[31] In 1983 the vice principal, Bill Thew, stated that the cost would be higher if the district had used school buses.

Fears of legal problems meant that rodeo was withdrawn as an official sport.