It formerly operated under the Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE).

In 2005 three children were officially registered as students, and Keanae School's principal, Rick Paul, was also that of Hana High and Elementary School in Hana.

That year Ron Okamura, the superintendent of the Maui Region of HIDOE, and Paul jointly decided to have those students attend Hana School to conserve resources, though Keanae School was not formally closed at that time.

Some area residents opposed the closure of the Keanae building, partly due to the distance between Ke'anae and Hana, 18 miles (29 km).

According to Paul, if the Ke'anae building had not closed, the Hana school would have had one fewer teacher as that grade level would have had insufficient students.