DECATUR — Small class size offers a major advantage for students at the Decatur High School, according to superintendent Larry Ben.

The average class size for core curriculum classes in seventh through twelfth grade is 12.7 students, he said. The advantage of a small class size is the teacher can offer students more individualized attention. It’s better to get 1/12 of the teachers attention than 1/25, Ben explained.

Research shows that class size matters up to about 15 students, Ben said. From 15 to 25 students it doesn’t matter as much because teachers switch to a lecture style of teaching. With less than 15 kids teachers use a more individualized style.

“I think that it matters to parents,” Ben said.

The maximum amount of students a high school teacher can have in one day is 150, and the maximum amount of students in one class period is 30, Ben said. It doesn’t matter if the teacher has five classes of 30 or six classes of 25, he explained. Districts try to get as much as they can from one teacher, Ben said. If Decatur’s enrollment goes up class sizes will also increase, but for now the small class size offers a distinct advantage. But as enrollment increases, so will money from the state, which will also boost the quality of education the district can offer and possibly offset any negative effects of increased class size, Ben explained.

Enrollment was at 467 on Aug. 2, and by Aug. 16 the number had increased to 481, according to Ben. Enrollment numbers were available, but not accurate on Monday because the school's computers listed students who had moved away without notifying the school.