A Lake County school bus driver and a bus aide are recovering after deputies said an out-of-control, 12-year-old student hit them.

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It happened as the bus was picking up students for school near Clermont Thursday morning. The student was arrested and is facing aggravated battery charges.

The driver was trying to break up a fight when she got punched in the face. A short time later, deputies said the student punched the bus aide too.

School district officials told Channel 9 that it might have been an accident, but deputies said it escalated from there, and the bus aide was also in the middle of it.

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The bus aide told investigators that after she removed the arrestee from the bus, he charged at her and struck her in the face. She said the boy then ran to pick up a chair from his garage, and tried to hit the bus with it.

The bus was headed to Academy of Lake Hills South, an alternative school.

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The bus driver was hospitalized Thursday, but family said she is doing OK.

The student was released from jail and sent back to live with his grandmother.

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